


Ascension

by the_phantomime



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Mystery, Romance, Satire, Starting Over
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2019-10-05 08:39:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 58,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17321654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_phantomime/pseuds/the_phantomime
Summary: A group of travelers arrive at the Andromeda galaxy, hoping to explore new worlds and find new homes. But what they discovered was the truth about themselves…and beyond.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU and so requires its own internal logic. So be warned of massive character derailments, OCs and some lore breaks.

Somewhere in the Andromeda galaxy, 2.5 million years away from the Milky way, a ship nears its 614-year long journey, carrying eager explorers ready to start a new life. They were in cryo stasis for most of the travel through dark space, but one of them…was woken early.

* * *

He opened his eyes and groan as bright light flood his vision. Ice ran up and down his arms and he started shivering. His lungs heaved without warning and though the warm air rushing inside calmed his lungs, a dry itch started flaring in his throat.

_Where am I?_

His body curled to cough, but then, his body wouldn't move. This and the thought that he didn't know where he is, much less who he is, caused fear to flow through his veins.

Then hands went under his back, gentle hands, and lifted him to his side to cough.

"Easy, there. We're here. You're in safe hands," a soothing voice said. He looked up and saw a middle aged man bending over him, wearing gloves and dressed in white and red. He squinted at it. He knew it meant something but he couldn't remember what just now. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a similarly dressed woman beside him, looking at her arm with something glowing over it.

A word suddenly popped in his brain.  _Omni-tool._

He only knew the word but not what it does and as he racked his head over it, she walked towards them and stopped in front of him. She raised her arm in his face. He drew back slightly.

"Easy there," the man said, gently rubbing his back. He relaxed and she started running the strange glowing thing over him. After a few sweeps, she dropped her arm, apparently satisfied and with her other hand, fiddled with it. "Vital signs' good," she said, tapping on it without looking at him. "I'll inform Dr T'Perro that he's awake," she added and then with a nod at his companion, she walked away to the next pod.

"Where am I?" he croaked at his helper. With the woman gone, he paid attention to his surroundings. It seemed he was inside a medium sized room, full of bed and pods like his. The room was silent, except for the soft beeping of machines and the whispered voices of patients like him who seem to be waking from sleep like him, tended to by people like the man beside him.

The man's face looked washed out by the harsh light but he smiled at him as he handed him a cup of water. "You're in Andromeda," he answered. "This is the Initiative, and you're Scott Ryder, member of our Pathfinding team."

"Right," Scott replied. For some reason, his brain cannot comprehend any of that. His head feels heavy as if something had been punching it over and over again. It hurt to think so he sipped at his cup and relieve his parched throat. He drank half of it then put it away before speaking up again.

"Sorry. I can't remember anything," he apologized. Then memories start appearing which almost hurt. But even so, he can now remember that the man was wearing a uniform to identify him as part of the medic corps.

"No need to apologize to me about it," the man replied cheerfully. He opened his omni-tool and scanned him too. "It's natural to feel disoriented just after cryo. When we first woke up, we felt like we've beet hit up the head with a sledgehammer."

Scott dropped his hand as he finally understood something. "You said we were in Andromeda. As in the galaxy?"

"Yes. We've arrived. We've reached the outer arms just a year ago and we're now approaching the Heleus cluster, our new home. We'd be meeting with the Nexus in five days." The man fiddled with the buttons to let Scott process this. Nexus?

"Imagine the thought of just arriving on a galaxy 2-5 million light years away. Our families descendants back home would like to know that. Also, everyone else who thought we were being stupid in going here. I think we already informed them as soon as we arrived."

Scott's brow furrowed. "How? I thought Andromeda is a million light years away. They'd get the message a million years later."

"Good to know your reasoning skills are active," the man replied. "But we're not relying on light to send our messages. We have a Quantum Entanglement Communicator aboard. Rest assured, they'll know we arrived safely."

For some reason, their families knowing about their arrival did not cheer him up. "Okay," he says simply.

The door opened and a humanoid in a med coat walked in. Humanoid, as she is bipedal, of the same height of humans and having the same anatomy of the female sex. But he knew she was an alien because instead of hair, she has a crest made of cartilage growing from her scalp and the strange, striking color of her blue skin.

He racked his brain for the term for her race. Slowly, before she reached them, he remembered. _Asari_. Asari skin color vary from blue to purple and sometimes green. Also, unlike humans, they only have one sex and they reproduce through parthenogenesis.

He smiled. His brain was starting to work.

As he thought about his, she looked around and saw his companion waving at her. She smiled and walk towards them.

His nurse closed his omnitool. "That's it, I think. I'll hand you over to Dr T'Perro," he said.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

The man walked away to his next patient and Dr T'Perro replaced him by Scott's side. "I'm Dr. Lexi T'Perro. I'm the chief medical specialist for the Pathfinding mission team. How are you feeling, Scott?" she asked, the slight smile stretching the white line between her bottom lip.

"I'm fine. The lady said I'm good," he answered, with a nod at the woman earlier who was now busy with another patient.

"Good. I need to conduct some cursory tests," she said and held up one finger. "Look here," she said, moving her hand slowly from side to side as Scott follow her finger. As he did, his eyes fell on the pod near them, where a familiar name was flashing on the small screen. Sara.

A jot of fear ran through him. "What's happening with Sara?" he asked as he remembered his sister.

Dr Lexi glanced at the pod and the people tending around it, then she went back to her work. "Nothing's wrong with her. It looks like it'll take a while for her to come around."

The worry fell away and he smirked as he looked at the pod. "Yes, well, my sister may have been born earlier but she's never early after that."

Dr Lexi smiled. "Even though you won't see a familiar face, it's good to know your memories are returning at least." She seemed satisfied with her readings and so closed her omnitool. "We need to check on your implants. Sam, are you monitoring?"

Scott looked around to see who she was talking to. No one was near to them and none of the others look up at the sound of that name. He turned back to the doctor, puzzled. The doctor waited for a few seconds then raised her head and repeated her instructions. "Sam, are you monitoring?"

"Yes, Dr T'Perro," an electronic voice answered. "Hello, Dr T'Perro. Hello Scott Ryder."

"Who's that?" he asked, looking around. No one looked up from hearing the name Sam.

"That's SAM, the AI of the Pathfinding team. Your Pathfinding team. SAM is short for Simulated Adaptive Matrix," she replied.

Scott frowned. He remembered something about AI and had a vague feeling that it meant bad. "An AI?"

She nodded, paused, then peered closely at him. "Yes... I think we need to call some of your team to explain," she decided.

* * *

Scott was in the recovery bay where his reflexes were tested. Dr Lexi had already tapped his kneecap and even pointed a laser at his hand when he wasn't looking. He snatched it away quickly and despite his complaints, she went on with her task. Now she has him gripping rubber balls and recording when the door opened and a black man wearing a sweatshirt and loose pants entered. His bushy hair bobbed as he strode forward. He reached them and seated himself beside him, on the opposite side of Dr Lexi, as if he was a friend and not a stranger.

"Hey, Ryder. You're awake. I'm Marcus Zola," the man said, extending a hand. "I'm on the Pathfinding team, like you. Remember me?"

"Yep," Scott said and shook his hand. He remembered him from the brief training they had together as a Pathfinder team before they slipped into cryo. Earthborn. First responder. Makes a mean drink.

He put away the datapad he was reading to make himself remember everything about where he was, who these people are and why are they not in the Milky Way.

"Your Dad and your sister is also part of the team. We're the ones who's going to secure a home for us here in Andromeda," Marcus reminded him casually, careful not to overwhelm Scott at once or belittle him for his cryo-induced confusion. His voice flowed like honey, not too low nor too hard. For some reason, Scott thought it as a "Mom" voice. "I heard you had some questions about SAM?"

"No. I remember now. No need to tell me about it." AI and its research were banned back in Citadel space in the Milky way, where the memories of recent attacks from rogue AI still lingered. Those rogue AI, the geth, were too alien for organics to comprehend. They also never left a reason for their attacks, only devastation. So the fear of AI never abated.

It was also the reason why Scott was here in another galaxy. His father was discovered to be doing illegal research into AI, which caused a scandal so great the Alliance stripped him of honors it bestowed on him for his service as an N7. Not that the Alliance is actually against it; they'd rather have anything that will give humanity an edge over the other races. But the Council's power is great, and they thought it best not to offend them yet.

Alec's disgrace has also ended Scott and Sara's careers and ensured that they will never be welcome anywhere, so long as the Council rules. And so they decided to make a new start in a new galaxy. Or at least, their father did.

That illegal research was SAM, and because humanity has lesser hang-ups compared to the Citadel species with regards to AI due to not experiencing directly their impact, the Andromeda Initiative allowed its use for the project. The founders thought the AIs are necessary to overcome whatever problems may arise in a new galaxy. It's use is not possible back to the Milky way due to the Citadel's stance on it, but here, out of the Council's watch, they can write their own rules. Only the leadership and the Pathfinding team knew that the AI is unshakled; everyone else thought it as a VI. Only the top people need to know. Only they need to know.

Marcus turned to Dr Lexi. "How's he doing, Doc?"

"Pretty good, so far. His normal functions are returning as expected."

"How long before he can go on drills?"

Dr Lexi looked up from her datapad to frown at him. "I think Scott needs to have a day to acclimatize. He's already been through so much that more of it will make him sick."

"She's right, you know," Scott piped up.

Marcus chuckled. "Aw, you poor little lab rat. Have they been poking you a lot?," he says, patting him softly on the back. Then he leaned closer to Dr Lexi. "I don't think we have the time for that, Doc. Orders from high up," he whispered.

Dr Lexi frowned longer at him. Then she sighed. "He'll have a little rest after this then I'll clear him this afternoon," she conceded.

"What's going on?" Scott asked. "And where's Dad?"

Marcus glanced at Dr Lexi who, catching the movement, made a waving motion with her hand. "Pretend I'm not here. It's covered by patient-doctor confidentiality," she said, not looking up from her datapad so Marcus turned back to him. "Your dad's on the bridge. Don't worry, you'll see him soon," he assured him.

That was not reassuring. He cannot not believe his own father would not bother to check personally on the well-being of his own children.

Then he checked. Maybe this was one of the days again where Dad was working on something really important right now and everyone knows his job was always important? If it is, he's being a hypocrite, since they're both have the same profession.

But whatever. Marcus did not elaborate further. He just nodded at his legs. "So, how's the legs?"

Scott wiggled his toes. "Amazing. One foot is putting itself over the other."

Marcus grinned. "You're one of the lucky ones. Some woke up and saw them gone."

"You're kidding, right?"

Marcus snorted. "Of course I'm kidding. Who the fuck steals a pair of feet? Anyway, you're still lucky because," he lowers his voice, "You're going to need them soon."

Scott frowned at him. "I thought ETA is in five days."

Marcus looked around them first. "It seems we're not going to the Nexus but directly to Habitat 7," he said, referring to the forward operating base who was supposed to arrive early in Andromeda to prepare for the arrival of the arks, one of it theirs. "Captain Dunn ordered a course correction yesterday. It seems the Nexus is missing."

Scott frowned. "The Nexus is missing? How can something so big as that go missing?" he asked, about the station that was half as big as the Citadel back at the Milky Way. 

"Not so loud," Marcus cautioned. "We don't want to cause a panic. Anyway, finding the Nexus is the next thing we'll do, right after we settle."

"Do you think it didn't arrive?"

  
"No idea. We only know that they're not where they were expected to be and our scanners aren't picking them up. Comm's just giving us static too. So Captain Dunn and your father agreed that we should head directly to Habitat 7 before we go looking for them."

They just arrived and there's already bad news. "So here we are."

"Yup," Marcus said and stood up. "So you better get yourself in shape, or you're going to be left behind."

* * *

Captain Dunn paced the length of the bridge as her officers work on their consoles. A gleam of excitement shone on her phoenix eyes, bright against her flat, brown face and. Her chin length hair bobbed as she walked, infecting her crew, filling them with the same enthusiasm she felt. She had trained and lived for this and she was not going to miss this moment now.

She smiled at the thought of her descendants back at the Milky Way when they'll learn that they have successfully arrived at Andromeda. They'll talk of their great-great-great grandmother who refused to spend her well-earned retirement years being doted on until she's senile and instead led the great and dangerous journey to give humanity a new first in history. And here they are, at the end of that journey. She could almost taste their triumph in the air. 

She went to her seat and turned to her helm officer. "Onscreen," she instructed.

Lani Reed nodded and with a few taps on her console, their screen was filled of the planet that would be their new home. Everyone on the bridge went silent in awe of the world they were to inhabit; a world of soft purple clouds, revealing dark-grey land amidst a blue-green ocean. To finally reach their destination after six hundred years of traveling through dark space…

"I think we had enough look at it," Captain Dunn said after a few minutes. "Lani, take us in orbit." Lani, her pilot, complied. Captain Dunn sat back and gazed contentedly at their new home.

Then the ship reeled. Hard.

"Battle Stations!" Captain Dunn yelled from the floor where she was thrown as the klaxon goes off in the bridge. She resumed her seat and strapped herself in. "Report!"

All of them are scrambling to their stations, not expecting the sudden tremors that's gripping the ship.

"Scanners report intense gravitational and electromagnetic fluctuations, Captain!" the science officer informed them.

"Systems failing! We're not moving!" Lani yelled, frantically tapping at the keys.

Dunn tapped at her console. "Engineering report!"

"The drive's doing everything it can!" the chief engineer replied from the comm. "It isn't a problem from our end!"

The science officer called her name. "Captain! Hull Breach in Decks 15-26!"

Captain Dunn turned to him, eyes wide. " _Hull Breach? Hull Breach?_ Why the hell are we having a hull breach for? Are our shields up?"

"It's not working. It's as if whatever's out there is passing through it and directly affecting our hull."

_What could possibly have done this?_

She puzzled over it for a few seconds then shook her head to clear her mind. Whatever it is, it can wait. She did not have time to wonder about it while her ship's falling apart around her. She punched at her console to call for the section manager. Her fingers almost slipped as her console's shaking intensified. "Evacuate decks 15-26 and seal it after everyone there's accounted for!" she ordered him when he came online. She then turned to the officer. "What's the status of the energy readings?"

"It's all around us, but mostly wrapped around one of the arms-wait, the sensors picked up something. It's coming from Habitat 7."

The screen blinked and then show a vortex of unknown energy swirling on the planet, where in its epicenter, a spot of light blinked. As they watched, the storm gobbled up the planet's surface, raking the land around it.

Around the planet, the star field swirled, arms of space and light emanating from it, stretching and tearing, until it reached their screens and the ark shook again.

The shake brought back Captain Dunn's wits and she snapped at them to start moving. "Get Alec Ryder online!"

The comm specialist's fingers flew swiftly over buttons. He then yelled that the Pathfinder is online.

"Ryder here," the comm cackled, transmitting the deep, serious voice of their Pathfinder.

"Alec! we need you," Captain Dunn shouted at him over the static. "Get your Pathfinding Team ready." She gripped her seat hard as the ark shook again,their screams mixing in with the intermittent klaxon. She grimaced after it was over, feeling the pain from her sides where she hit the armrests. "It seems...you have to land in Habitat 7 earlier than expected."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just found out that the name 'Liam Kosta' means 'strong-willed, steadfast', which is not a fit for how I was going to portray Scott's right hand man. So, the right hand man will really be an OC and not just the original portrayed much more sympathetically.


	2. Chapter 2

"Can I go now?"  
  
Dr. Lexi looked with exasperation at her patient beside her who was standing up, jogging in place despite her instruction to rest. "No. I said you'll have to rest first and then I will clear you for training  _later_ ," she said, dragging the last word. She paused her work on the console and gestured to the bed. "So please, Scott, can you be a good boy and do as your doctor tells you?"  
  
"I feel fine," he insisted.  
  
"Regardless. I don't want you tearing yourself up before your body is ready to do heavy tasks."  
  
"But there's nothing to do here."  
  
She sighed. Then she put up a selection of vids on her console. "Do you want to watch something? I can transfer a list for you on a datapad. Or listen to music?"  
  
Scott shook his head. "I want to go out. I can do some light walking?" he suggested. She just stared. "Maybe visit some friends?"  
  
"Half the ship isn't operational yet," she informed him. And the other half won't like people wandering around out of their place. "Also, there's only a handful of people awake-"  
  
Untethered, they were suddenly flung into the air. Scott was rolled across his bed, but he reached out and clamped his hand on the edge of another. he reached out and grabbed the doctor's arm, who was going to crash into the other side of the room.  
  
He fell to the floor with a grunt while the doctor landed on the next bed. They quickly scrambled to grasp onto something as the klaxon blared.  
  
"You alright?" he asked the doctor behind him as he grasped on one leg of the bed.  
  
She nodded and slid off the bed to hold onto the leg, wincing from the strain at her other arm. She looked behind her and saw others weren't so lucky as her. They were pooled at the feet of the wall, groaning in pain. Some were bleeding from the gashes they sustained as they flew across the room or from cuts made by the objects that turned into projectiles when the gravity failed. "We have to help them," she said, nodding at them.  
  
They slid from bed to bed until the doctor reached the nearest person. She extended her arm and helped the people there to find something to hold onto. She put her scanner up and was about to scan the head of the person nearest to her who was bleeding from a gash in her head, but immediately closed it as the ark shook again.  
  
When the tremor passed and the screaming stopped, she turned to Scott. "Scott! Can you reach for the med kit over there?" she said, nodding at the head of the bed where the med kits were stored behind tempered glass. Scott nodded and walked quickly to reach it and tossed her the medkit. She caught it and immediately clamped it between her thighs, opening it with one had while the other was ready to clamp at the leg of the bed should the tremor pass again. She squeezed out a paste in her palm and quickly smeared it at the patient's bleeding head and then ran a light from her omni-tool over it to help the skin heal faster.  
  
Scott's omni-tool beeped. "Marcus here. Scott, we're up. Wait there, I'm on my way to get you. Out."  
  
The line went dead and Scott looked to the doctor.  
  
"We don't have any choice. Looks like you're cleared," she said and scooted to the next patient who seemed to have dislocated his elbow. So Scott picked his way to the door and waited for Marcus to show up.   
  
A little while later, his teammate appeared and with a wave at Dr. Lexi, they ran to the docks where the team’s shuttle was waiting.  
  
“What the fuck is happening?” Scott asked as they ran. People were scrambling to get a foothold on the trembling ship. Equipment started bursting in sparks as their circuits overloaded from the stress, prompting the fire alarm to blare on top of the klaxon.   
  
“Just keep moving,” Marcus said and shoved him gently forward. They held on to the railings as they ran, sometimes crawling the rest of the way to the docking bay.  
  
The door opens and they arrived in the shuttle bay where some of their team were already prepping. As they went to their lockers and followed suit, the other door opened and their team leader, Alec Ryder walked in.  
  
The former N7, now Pathfinder of the human ark Hyperion, with salt and pepper hair and has a grim face lined deep with experience. He walked towards the lockers with sprightliness despite his age. As he also took out his armor, he briefed them about their mission.  
  
“Here are the facts: our ark is trapped by some unknown gravitational and electromagnetic fluctuations in this sector. The bridge informed me that it may have been triggered from the surface of Habitat 7,” he said, putting on his boots. “A signal is coming from an artificial structure on the surface, causing a storm around it about a thousand kilometers in diameter. It’s affecting the planet as well as the space above it, where unfortunately our ark is trapped. We’ll have to drop in its eye and shut it down. Questions?”  
  
Marcus raised a hand as he wiggled a glove on the other. “Should we expect hostiles down there, Sir?”  
  
“Unknown. That’s all the people up there can give us so we'll have to see it for ourselves,” he said with a sharp nod at the closed doors were further on, the bridge was struggling to keep the ship together. “We'll have to fly blind. But if you remember your training, you’ll be fine,” he said. He was about to put his chest piece when he paused and looked around. “Where is my son?”  
  
“Here,” Scott answered from the back. He was helping the others prep because he did not expect to be deployed so soon from cryo.  
  
His father stared hard at him. “Why aren’t you prepped?”  
  
“Alec, I think it’s not a good idea to let him come with us,” a woman with a short, blond pale hair intervened. “He just got out of cryo.”  
  
Alec looked at her with his black eyes, as impenetrable as obsidian. “He is part of my team and I expect everyone to be prepared for anything, Cora,” he said coldly. He did not shout at her, but by her reaction, it was as if he did. He did not need to; his voice has that rare quality of gravitas that lend weight to his words and impact to his tone. It was not easy to say no to him.  
  
He turned to his son with the same cold glare. “Get your kit. We’ll move in five.”  
  
“Shit,” Scott said under his breath as he frantically put on his armor. Marcus went over and got his rifle and pistol for him and put it beside him as he dressed. “Sucks to be you.”  
  
“Wanna trade?”  
  
“Nah.”  
  
A grin appeared on Marcus’ face, then it faded away. “Too bad your sister can’t come, huh?”  
  
“Yep.” Scott finished strapping on his chest piece. “She’s gonna be real sorry she’ll miss this.”  
  
“So let’s go and make some stories to tell when she wakes up, huh?” Marcus asked with a pat on the shoulder and he handed Scott his helmet. As he put it on, Marcus suddenly moved away for some reason, which was answered when he saw his father suddenly beside him.  
  
“I heard what happened,” Alec said quietly to him. “Your sister’s strong. She’ll make it.”  
  
Scott stared at him behind the visor of his helmet. As always, Alec’s words were still formal even when discussing intimate family matters so Scott found it hard to believe him, especially since he knew he never visited them at the cryo bay. But Alec’s his father as well as his commander so he just nodded politely.  
  
“Don’t let it get you down. I need you sharp.”  
  
Typical. “Yes, sir.”  
  
Alec looked at him longer, then was about to move away but changed his mind. He came back and added, “Your mother would have been proud of you. Of both of you.”  
  
Scott didn’t know how to answer that. But he didn’t need to because Alec passed him by to go to the head of the team before they board the ship. He turned around to address them all. “Alright, team. This isn’t how our first mission is supposed to go but remember that we prepared for anything.” He looked at them individually, making them feel as if they were not invisible, that no matter how small their achievements was, they matter even to a legend like Alec, as he said, “I chose each of you for the Pathfinder team, not because you’re talented and passionate, but because you’re dreamers like me. We dream of exploring the unknown, of finding the edge of the map then discovering what lies beyond. When people look back on this-and they will-they’ll remember we didn’t give up. We kept dreaming. That our first few faltering steps in Andromeda were the beginning of everything they know. We only get one chance to be the first.” He paused, and swept over them again. “So let’s go make history.”  
  
The team cheered. Courage flowed into them as they thought about going into the unknown, defeating the fear it usually brings. This was why, despite Alec’s faults, people willingly put their fate in his hands.

* * *

As soon as they entered the atmosphere, their equipment aboard their shuttle started flickering.  
  
“Status!” Alec yelled at the pilots as their shuttle shuddered and they felt gravitational forces pressing down on them. Alec, Cora and Greer were seated just behind the pilots, while Scott and Marcus were seated opposite them.  
  
“We’re going through an ion storm, Alec!” Markland replied, his voice flat due to his helmet’s filters. Meanwhile, Fisher’s fingers flew on his console to keep them airborne. “The unknown structure seems to be causing the planet’s polarity to reverse itself, making this geomagnetic storm. It’s frying our equipment and scrambling our sensors! We’ll have to drop sharply!”  
  
“Do it!”  
  
“Copy,” Fisher replied and warned them. “Prepare for fifteen g.”  
  
They all tapped on their consoles and instructed their suits to keep most of the gravitational forces they’d be getting off them, while preparing themselves mentally and physically. They tensed their leg and abdominal muscles as the ship dived like a bullet, spinning down through the storm towards the planet’s surface.  
  
Their heads cleared when Fisher pulled the ship to cruising altitude. The fluctuations became lesser and their equipment flickered to life then stayed on. They have arrived just near the edge of the storm.  
  
“Holy shit,” Greer murmured as they looked through their windows and saw a wall of a massive tornado surrounding their destination. As debris swirled around it wildly, boulders the size of mountains hang in the air, spinning around it as lightning arced between them. Just beyond, they could just barely see a calm area where they knew the unknown structure was located.  
  
Carefully keeping it from being drawn in, Fisher had the shuttle circle the storm for a while to find safe passage through it. But they found none.  
  
“We can’t drop in the eye, Alec,” Fisher informed them despite the roar of the wind. “And there's no other way to get in. We’ll have to pass through the walls to get there.”  
  
“Something inside there is fighting the planet’s gravity,” Markland explained the floating boulders. He was still looking at his console. “If we go in there, we’d be shredded as well as get hit by the rocks.”  
  
Alec read Markland’s scans from his omni-tool, then closed it. “If we don’t go in there, the Hyperion is dead,” he shouted. “It’s the only way to get at the thing inside.”  
  
“Are you sure, Alec? If we go in there, the shuttle might not handle it. We might not come through alive!”  
  
“We’ll have to try. We’re the only hope Hyperion has got!”  
  
Greer turned away from the window sharply to stare at Alec. “Are we really going into that thing?” he yelled, looking wide-eyed.  
  
“Yes, we are, Greer. Or everyone aboard the Hyperion will die,” Alec answered, looking straight in his eyes. “Do you copy, soldier?”  
  
Greer stopped gaping. “Yes, sir,” he said somberly. He leaned back in his seat and squeezed his eyes shut, murmuring something.  
  
The pilots looked at each other. Fisher hesitated, but he tapped on his console and steered the ship to the wall.  
  
The ship veered to the right, following the direction of the storm’s spin. Fisher kept the ship’s speed the same as the storm’s until he spotted a gap between the boulders and eased them in.  
  
The ship’s thrusters failed as the storm took it along with everything else but the pilots struggled to keep them moving towards the center as well as keeping abreast of the boulders and debris. Their shields pinged as small debris bounced off them and their hull screeched due to the gravitational distortions, but the ship kept on as it revolved along with the wind, creeping closer and closer into the center-  
  
Lightning flashed and a boom ripped into their ears. Their shuttle shuddered and veered to the left. “We’re hit!” Fisher yelled. Another flash of light and the metal on the other side of their shuttle screamed. Then a series of hits rocked them around, lights going off all around them, their shouts lost over roar of thunder going off simultaneously and one after the other.  
  
Then a boulder hit their ship, tearing it in half. They yelled as the other part of the ship was flung from them, taking Alec, Cora and the pilots on course to another boulder as their part was flung onto the opposite direction. It hit another boulder, sending it plummeting inside the eye.  
  
Martin did not faint from the impact and so unstrapped them both and their seats fell away from each other. As they fell through the air, he focused on Scott. He was acting prone so he grasped his arm and shook it gently. No response.  
  
“Scott!” Marcus yelled, holding his face up at him and saw his eyes closed. He opened his omnitool and tapped on it to instruct Scott’s suit to jolt him awake. It worked and Scott kicked his legs, then yelled as they saw themselves plummeting to the ground.  
  
“Calm down, Scott! I got you,” Marcus said, holding on to him even as his friend’s limbs wind-milled in the air. He gripped him firmly and pressed a button on his suit. Immediately, a parachute popped from his back and they jerked up as it caught.  
  
“Shit!” Martin screamed as the parachute drew them towards the wall. He released it, setting it free flying back to the storm, and activated his jump jet. “Scott! I can’t hold us up together! Use your jump jet or we’ll crash!”  
  
Scott looked at him blearily as Marcus dragged them away from the wall, jetting up then falling, up then falling, until he understood and helped him. It seems Marcus was heading to a ledge on a cliff so they alternate propelling each other. Scott jumped when the arc of Marcus’s jump finished and they were about to fall and vice versa. They reached the cliff in this manner and they set down gently on a plain, among lavender grass and bright yellow green fern shoots.  
  
Marcus moved closer to Scott and scanned him. “You’ve got a concussion. You may also have some whiplashes,” he said from the readings. He instructed him to lie still. “Hold on, I’ll start the med program.” He tapped on his console. A little while later, Scott felt his headache lessening as his implants set to work. He rolled his shoulders testily as the strain disappeared.  
  
Marcus waited for about fifteen minutes then asked Scott how he was doing. Scott answered he was fine, but Marcus made him do tests until he was satisfied that he had recovered enough to continue.  
  
“Where are we?” Scott said, looking around. The grass stirred towards the wall just beyond them, where the boulders and debris still swirled as the wind howled. They had to stand firmly on the ground or else they’d be like the rocks, rolling towards the wall. But the air was calmer around them and the sky was clear around the beam of light from the object making the storm.  
  
“It seems we’ve arrived. I’m not sure about the others, though.” He tapped at his console again and listened at the comms.  
  
Scott drew a ragged breath as he bent down and put his hands on his knees. “You think they’re alive?” he asked.  
  
“They may be at the other side. I don’t know where we came from. The magnetic field of this planet’s crazy, it’s messing with our nav system. But I hope they are, or else, it’s just us now.” Marcus glanced up from his omni-tool and peered at him. “Scott,” he called, his voice soft, “I know we’ve gone through pretty scary shit and we lost your old man but this isn’t the time to panic. We’ll think of that later. Right now, we-“  
  
“I’m not panicking!” Scott protested. “And I know what the old man will say. He’s my father. It’s just…really tight in here.” He turned away from Marcus' raised brow and looked around. After a moment, he stood up and asked as carelessly as he could, “Do you think the air’s breathable?”  
  
“There’s a lot of oxygen around but there’s also a lot of heavy gases,” Marcus answered, his tone casual like his. “It’s best not to take your helmet off for a whiff.”  
  
Scott looked at the wall of the storm at the distance, mountains of grey rock spinning around them. “And this is supposed to be our home?”  
  
“We can’t complain about that because the planet wasn’t expecting us. Those long-range telescopes we got isn’t equipped with sensors.”  
  
“Hard to believe we went here on a guess.”  
  
Marcus shrugged. “Well, we’re here now.” He tapped on his omnitool a few more times then closed it. “No one’s answering. I guess it’s up to us now to shut whatever is causing this down,” he said, looking at the beam of light just beyond them. He nodded at Scott and, with Martin taking point, they started to climb the cliffs for a better view. At the summit, their omnitool started crackling.  
  
“The short range comm’s working!” Marcus announced. “I think someone’s nearby.” He tapped at it. “Found a location,” he said, pointing somewhere west of them.  
  
They hurried over to the location, picking their way carefully among the electrically charged rocks floating around them, passing through giant glowing mushrooms until they arrived at a gulley. As they went near, they heard someone speaking. Pleading.  
  
Scott paused behind Marcus when he saw him raise a fist. He followed his lead, slinging his rifle in front of him as Marcus signaled them both to move forward silently. They arrived at a ledge where below, some strange equipment was scattered before a strange door. In the midst of them was someone wearing armor of white and blue stripes. One of their team.  
  
“That’s Greer, I think,” Scott said. “But what is he doing?” He followed to where the man was staring and saw strange beings pointing something at him. They were barking at Greer in a strange language which the human answered by calmly repeating “I don’t understand you. Help me understand you.”  
  
“Confirmed alien sighting,” Marcus said, watching the aliens. They had their heads uncovered, showing grey skin, with some sort of greyish white bones protruding around their face and covering their head like a beret. Below the protruding forehead are two milky white eyes, a nose with a bony bridge and a thin mouth. They had their arms free, their armor looking like a vest and their legs bent backwards.  
  
“Think it would get ugly?” Scott said, wiping the dew forming on his visor.  
  
“Maybe. But we’ll have to follow First Contact protocol.” Marcus signaled him to take position to cover Greer, without alerting the aliens.  
  
They watched as Greer pleaded at the aliens, hands raised up, insisting that he doesn’t understand their language. “Should we help him out?” Scott whispered, looking warily at the front most alien. “We’ll have to wait and see if they’re hostile,” Marcus said. “Watch out for their things. I think they’re carrying guns.”  
  
They kept watch as Greer pleaded with the aliens. They barked louder then one of them raised its weapon and pointed it toward Greer.  
  
“Hostiles confirmed. Open fire,” Marcus instructed, gunning down the one who raised its weapon. The aliens turned around at them and Greer dove out of sight. Scott and Marcus shot at the aliens from their vantage point, observing that they don’t have shields. Marcus dropped a grenade at the midst of them and Scott sniped them as they attempted to jump away. “Like fish in a barrel,” Marcus commented as he shot the last one who tried to run for Greer.  
  
When the coast was clear, they moved down the ledge to join their team mate. Greer walked towards them with open arms. Marcus caught his hand, drew him close and hugged him. “Hey, man. Glad to see you survived,” he said, their hands between them while his other hand tapped Greer on the back.  
  
“Glad to see you two,” Greer replied, and released him. “I thought for a minute there that I was a goner.”  
  
“Yep. Seems being a linguist isn’t a help here,” Marcus said, noting the ashy pallor of Greer’s dark face.  
  
“Lucky we’re also fluent in guns, eh?” Greer said and grinned. He went to Scott and did the same thing. “Ah, Ryder junior. Thought you were a goner too.”  
  
“Yeah. Good thing Marcus here can’t live without me,” Scott answered and let him go.  
  
“Yes. Marcus' always clingy that way,” Greer said and grinned. Marcus raised his middle finger towards him. Then he looked down at the alien corpse before him. “First we go through some shit storm and now this. First Contact didn’t go so well. At least it didn’t go like the yahg.”  
  
“Could be worse,” Marcus replied. “Remember the turians?”  
  
Scott snorted. “Remember the batarians?”  
  
Greer grinned. “Yeah. We humans just couldn’t get the hang of First Contact, can’t we? Oh, why can’t we have a nice alien welcoming us warmly for once.”  
  
“Have you looked at your face?” Marcus teased.  
  
“I had. Last time I checked, it’s much better than yours.” He opened his omni-tool and scanned the corpse. “Think they activated whatever’s causing this storm?”  
  
“What, like we did on relay 314?” Scott asked. He moved near the mysterious door and scanned it.  
  
“Maybe. If we weren’t careful, this may be a repeat of the First Contact War.” He finished scanning and closed his omnitool. “Anyway, we should get back with the others.”  
  
“Any idea where they are?” Marcus asked, keeping watch as Scott finished with the mysterious door and moved on to the equipment scattered around.  
  
The grin disappeared from Greer’s face and he said solemnly, “Fisher and Markland are dead. The lightning blew up the console in their faces and last I saw, the shuttle didn’t eject them.”  
  
They fell silent in their memory. “Shit,” Scott cursed softly.  
  
“We’ll give them full honors later. Maybe right here in this motherfucking planet,” Martin said and pointed at the sky, where two moons of Habitat 7 twinkled. “We’ll call that Fisher and the other Markland.”  
  
Greer grinned as he too looked at it. “Yeah. The Balls of Fisher and Markland, whose balls are as big as the moons they are named for. They really ‘hang a pair’ over Habitat 7.”  
  
The mood restored, they got ready then Marcus took point again.  
  
“Where’s Cora and Dad?” Scott asked as he brought up the rear. They flowed the winding path of the mountains, careful not to overstep and lose their balance towards the abyss below them.  
  
“No idea. I got drifted away from them,” Greer answered. “But our comm’s coming online so one of them must be nearby.” He tapped at his omnitool and after a few tries someone answered.  
  
“Harper here. I’m at a cliff overlooking the crash site,” Cora said from the comms.  
  
“Hey Cora. Glad to hear you’re alive,” Marcus answered as he fiddled with his omnitool and pointed west.  
  
“Me too. Glad to hear some of you made it.”  
  
“Yeah. Scott and Greer’s here with me. But Fisher and Markland’s gonna be missed.”  
  
“Greer? Greer survived?” she asked in surprise.  
  
“I’m standing right here, sweetheart,” Greer piped up. “Alive and kicking. And I ain’t no fainting damsel,” he reminded her petulantly.  
  
Cora chuckled. “I’m sorry, Greer. Just that I didn’t think anyone would survive after we got bounced around like that.”  
  
He accepted her apology then Scott cut in. “Cora, Scott here. Where’s Alec?”  
  
He felt fear like an icy finger of dread sliding on his back as seconds passed before Cora answered. “He’s fine. He’s off somewhere for a moment.”  
  
He exhaled softly the breath he didn’t know he was holding, but Marcus did not feel as relieved as he was. He frowned at the news. It was strange for their com specialist and troop leader to go off on his own without regrouping first.  
  
“You need to come here and see this,” Cora breathed.  
  
The three exchanged looks. “Could be bad,” Greer said. Marcus thought about it, then reluctantly answered Cora. “We’ll be there in five. Marcus out.”


	3. Chapter 3

They arrived at the site where their shuttle was laid to rest. They searched the smoking wreck for signs of their team mate, when Cora called through their coms. She was on a ledge up a cliff overlooking the crash site and waved her gun to get their attention. The glint of it alerted them and they found her waving at them, her white armor nearly blending in with the basalt cliff. They moved away and jumped up to her.

“Got any news for me?” Cora asked. Her armor had seen better days. As they do all.

“We have aliens,” Greer said. He out up a holo of the corpses he’s scanned. “And they’re not friendly.”

“I think we have two types of aliens,” Scott said as he brought up holos of the contraptions and the strange door. “These ones seem to belong to our friends here,” he said at the containers and wiring. Then he brought up the door, dark as obsidian. “And this one seems to be another.”

Cora looked at the projections. Her mouth had upturned corners that made her look like she was perpetually amused, but they all know she was regarding their intel seriously.

“I don’t know about the door but I know those ones,” she said, nodding at the aliens. “We’ve run into some of them as soon as we touched down. I think they were going to take us somewhere, but Alec thought it was a bad idea and so we fought our way out of them. Anyway, that’s not important right now. Alec isn’t here because he found the structure causing the storm. We ran into it as we were on the way to the crash site. I was sent here to wait for you while he prepares something for it. He’s waiting for us just beyond that ridge.”

“How’d you two survive?” Marcus asked, curious. “As far as we know, you were thrown further in.”

Cora picked herself up. “Yep. We got bounced around pretty badly. My biotics helped make it easier for us until luckily, we got thrown here. Alec and I bailed and we touched down at the other side,” she said pointing somewhere behind them. “Fisher and Markland weren’t so lucky.”

 “Was Fisher and Markland in there?” he asked, nodding at the shuttle.

“Yes. I got their badges out, don’t worry.” Cora said.

Marcus nodded. “We’ll come back and give them a proper burial as soon as we’re done.”

They were about to jump down when they heard something roaring above. They looked out and up, where they saw a strange ship appear and hover near their crashed shuttle. Its doors opened and aliens dropped off, then started sweeping the area.

“Shit,” Scott cursed as they moved to cover. He peered down as he asked, “What now?”

“Let’s wait and not let our positions away,” Marcus said as he picked up his rifle and pointed it towards the aliens below. They watched as the aliens reached the wreck and searched around it.

Then one of them looked up, saw one of them and yelled.

“They’ve found us! Open fire!” Greer yelled as he dropped the one who gave them away. The aliens scattered from the incoming fire, barking something. Their ship opened again and some sort of armored lizards bounded out. It had bone-like structure protruding from its head like those from a hammer head shark and they ran on four legs, their tails with a spike at the tip swishing behind them.

“They’ve got some sort of dogs,” Scott said as he fired at them. The dog yelped as his bullets hit its flank and leap out of the way-

Then it vanished.

“What the-?” Scott said, staring at the place it had been moments before, but incoming fire made him duck back into cover. One bigger than the rest was holding a machine gun, and it was laying suppression fire on them. They shot back in retaliation, but their rounds just pinged off its shield.

Scott fired back on it when something rammed him from behind. He turned around and found himself face to face with the alien dog. He turned his attention to it, backing away, but it again lunged at him, showing sharp teeth as it snarled. Shots whizzed past him, past where his head had been as the dog tried to bowl him over. Worse, it brought a pack.

They were snapping at his legs as he shot them uselessly, the bullets bouncing off their armored hide, when one of them tried to lunge at his throat. But a singularity appeared at their midst and they went floating. Then they burst into bits of bone and flesh as Cora barreled into them, sending pieces of them back down onto their masters.

“Nice,” Greer grunted as he wiped green blood off his visor. “Nothing like alien blood for your first bath.”

 “Think you can take care of that?” Marcus said, nodding at the one with the machine gun.

“You’ll need to drop his shield first.”

Scott fiddled with his omni-tool until it changed his ammo to a disruptor. Then he started firing until its shield fizzled. Cora threw a singularity at it and as it and its friends floated, Marcus and Greer picked them off.

They mopped up the rest and when everything was quiet once again, they went down and examined the corpses, with Scott taking particular attention to the dogs.

“Alec and SAM should be in range,” Cora said, opening her omni-tool and tapped at it. “SAM, can you hear me?”

Static then the com crackled and they heard the AI answer. “Yes, Cora,” it said as toneless as ever.

“We’re sending you some samples of aliens we encountered. Can you make an analysis?”

“Information received. Analyzing now.” They waited for a few moments for it to speak again. “Analysis complete. The samples are of organic origin, but I am detecting multiple and distinct genetic strands in both samples. Both of them has genetic data from other lifeforms.”

“So...what does that mean?” Scott asked, the not scientifically inclined nor gifted.

“It seems that their strange genetic make-up is making them adapt to the current environment,” the AI explained. 

Marcus raised a brow at SAM’s conclusion. “Huh. I was wondering why they weren’t wearing helmets,” he said. Scott spoke into his omni-tool. “SAM, where’s Dad?”

“Alec Ryder is 100 meters east of where you are. I’m sending the navpoint to you.” All of them looked down as the navpoint simultaneously appeared on their maps.

“Well, I think there’s nothing more to see here,” Marcus said and closed his tool. “Get everything you can carry and let’s move out.”

* * *

They headed northeast of the wreck, heading downhill by dropping down ledges. They reached a gap and leaped across the chasm, then continued down, passing alien corpses as they did. Scott noted the burn marks by incendiary rounds. He was impressed that his father overcame them single-handed but that’s what anyone would expect from an N7. They headed south until they arrived at a cliff and jumped to the ledge where Alec Ryder crouched. They moved carefully to his side. Alec gave no sign that he noticed them, not taking his eyes off where he was looking.

They followed his gaze and saw below them the tower. It was blocky, made of straight edges and an unknown dark material with glowing lines etched into its surface. The alien’s facility was built around it, distinguished by its bulbous design and dull, dusty green color. Its openings were made of archways, where ramps connected them from one another. One of them led to platform near the tower.

But they could not just go in, for a force field stood around it and guards patrolled the field between it and them.

“Glad you made it,” Alec said, his eyes still observing the facility.

“Us too, Sir,” Greer answered while Scott stayed silent. Alec did not acknowledge it at first, then he looked to where Scott was. “You alright, son?”

“I’m fine,” Scott said stiffly.

Alec looked him over, his dark eyes not giving his thoughts away. But Cora moved to his side and asked, “What’s the plan, sir?”

Alec turned away from him and nodded below them. “The storm’s coming from that tower,” he said, pointing at the energy beam emanating from it, causing the sky to rumble and burst in lightning. "Somehow it's causing a storm even beyond the planet, trapping the Hyperion." 

“Yes. That tower is caught in a feedback loop with the anomaly around the planet. Together, they’re disrupting the atmosphere with undirected energy,” SAM supplied.

Marcus looked from the top of the tower then up towards the sky. "Did this activate as soon as our ark came near this planet?"

Alec turned to him. The others followed his gesture with puzzled looks. "What are you thinking?"

"Just that it's really convenient that this activated as soon as we appeared. Maybe this is the aliens' weapon to keep us away," Marcus answered.

"Maybe. Maybe not. But the chance for diplomacy is over as soon as we landed. We have no other options but to take control of it by force." Alec paused, then added, "But I'll keep that in mind, Marcus."

Alec may still be skeptical about the cause of the Hyperion's problem, but Marcus' suggestion has only served to enhance the four's resolve. There was no question in their minds that the aliens meant harm to them and with doubt finally wiped away, their guns would be firing faster than before. 

"We need to get in there and figure a way to shut it down,” Alec added. “Or we won’t be able to call for extraction and the Hyperion is dead.” 

Greer nodded at the aliens guarding the perimeter. “What about that force field?” he asked, noting the aliens patrolling outside and inside of it.

“See the generators over there?” Alec said, pointing at the alien’s equipment. “It seems they’re using it to generate the force field. I’ve rigged the foundations to blow. It should bring it down.”

Scott was curious how he managed to sneak up past those aliens to plant bombs on their generators but there was a more pressing concern. The field was surrounded by electrically charged rocks. “It also means we’re running into a lightning minefield. We’ll also face incoming fire if we don’t pick some of them off first,” he said, pointing at the guards outside the fence.

“Which would give those inside time to prepare a counterattack,” Alec replied. “If we go in, we go in fast and hard.”

“I can take care of it,” Cora said, confident of her biotics, which was stronger than Alec’s artificially induced power. It was the only thing she can best Alec at. “So just run and gun, then?”

“We have no other options. The explosives are guaranteed to get their attention and we need to move, fast. Captain Dunn’s informed me that the ark's about to break apart. We’ll split into two teams. Cora, you’ll lead one. Scott, you’re with me. Are you ready?” They nodded, so Alec tapped his omni-tool and the generators exploded. They immediately jumped down and as Scott ran beside his father, he heard him say, “SAM, load biotic amp interface.”

Cora produced a biotic shield as Marcus and Greer ran alongside her. Alec did the same for him and Scott.

The aliens turned to face them and opened fire at them as they ran. The biotic shields held, protecting them from the incoming fire as well as the electricity weaving through the ground, but halfway through Cora’s barrier started collapsing.

“I can’t hold on much longer!” she yelled as they were near the facility. Then the shield dropped and she tripped. Marcus dragged her up, yelling at her to go on when an explosion knocked them off into the building. The air smelled of fire and their shield generators emitted sparks. They tapped on their omni-tool to start the self-repair program. Their armor stopped smoking, then they looked back to where they were standing just a moment ago.

Greer was thrown far to their side. He did not move and his visor was clouded over with smoke. Marcus pointed his omni-tool at him and scanned him. “Shit, he’s dead. Greer’s dead.”

On the other side, Alec and Scott reached the building. “Cora! Status!” Alec yelled as he jumped over the crates and into the building, with Scott just behind him. They crouched back to back as Alec said, “SAM, load combat profile,” and fired away while Scott dealt with those inside.

“Greer’s dead. Lightning got him!” Marcus answered, putting out his hand over the barrel and laid out suppression fire. As the aliens went to cover, Cora staggered up and then charged into a group in front of them. She then slammed on the ground, sending the aliens flying. As they tried to rise to their feet, she went by and finished them off with her shotgun while Marcus picked off the rest.

“Clear! Let’s move!” Alec said. He took one second to look at where Greer’s body lay, surrounded with static then gave a look at Cora. She nodded, drew a barrier around her and darted out towards his body to strip off his badge. Alec waited until she came back, then sprinted forward inside the building. “Don’t let them catch us! Keep up!”

The three scrambled after him as Alec gunned their way further inside. They emerged on pathways over the cliff, with more aliens firing at them. They pushed forward until they reached the entrance to the tower.

Alec scanned around and found a strange console. It was dark colored, unlike the aliens’ green tinged equipment and shaped roughly like an equilateral triangle, a point facing them, with octagons on the surface inscribed by an unknown language.

“What now, sir?” Cora asked as they assumed positions to look out for more aliens coming out from the building.

“I need to decipher the language,” Alec said running his scanner over it and instructing SAM. 

Marcus looked up and yelled. “There’s more coming up from the ramp!”

“Cover me while SAM is decrypting!”

The three shot at the aliens coming from both paths as SAM informed them of the status of the decryption. Sweat formed on Scott’s brow as he fired while SAM counted its progress. Aliens after aliens dropped and it seemed to be taking forever.

Finally, it was finished.  Alec fiddled with it until the door opened…and got stuck.

“It’s jammed! Scott, I need you here!” Alec yelled as he put his hands under it and started pushing up.

“Go! We’ll take care of this!” Cora shouted over the firefight. She laid suppression fire as Scott ran towards his father. He took hold of the door and they pushed it upward and ran inside to where another console was waiting.

As Alec instructed SAM to decode again, Scott looked around. Inside, the firefight became muted. It was dark, but the place was illuminated by the strange alien glyphs like the one on the console, glowing green against the obsidian walls. He felt like they had fallen in an alien cave.

Then a burst of light came from his side and Scott squinted at it. A holo of a big triangle was floating in front of his father.

Alec stepped back, the light of the holo shining on his shocked face. "It's not a weapon. It's just...an atmospheric regulator." 

"What?" Scott asked. It seems an eternity passed as they stared at it but then their radio cackled. Amidst the sound of gunfire, Cora asked them how long are they going to take.

Alec shook his head and answered her. "Not long. We're almost done." He reached out, touching the holo where it broke into more glyphs. His hand searched around, the glyphs glowing as he touched them. He finally found what he was searching for and grasped it. The glyphs went solid, and the ground below them rumbled. Then it went silent.

Scott ran over to his father’s side. “You did it, Dad!” he said, beaming.

Alec smiled at his son, the first time he did when they arrived at Andromeda. “SAM did the heavy lifting.”

SAM explained that it has only partially decrypted the language, but Alec did not hear it. He kept looking at his son.

He looked so much like the little boy he remembered, the son who looked up to him as if he was the greatest that ever lived; not the surly young man who looked at him with eyes full of silent resentment. They may be family, yet they act like strangers around each other and he didn’t know why. He wasn’t around them when they were children he knew that much, and so he hoped that he would be so here. He was about to say something, perhaps, to try to start repairing their relationship; to bring back what should have been. To start over. That whatever happened between them, they can make a new start in this new galaxy, when something came whistling around them and before they could figure that out, they were thrown outside, past the platform and onto the cliffs below.


	4. Chapter 4

When the beam of light stopped, the wall of wind circling the structure collapsed, hurling the boulders away. It also left a vacuum behind, which, with a snap, sucked the air around the structure and inside of it, pulling anything not tied down...like Alec and Scott.

Scott yelled as the wind knocked him around. He used his jetpack to regain his balance, but it was too late; he hit the ground and tumbled. Momentum carried him forward until he felt something solid in front of him, then his visor broke. He felt pain explode as shards buried between his forehead and crown. In shock, he breathed in. Then everything went hazy as the poisonous air filled his lungs while blood trickled down into his eyes. He held his breath and searched for his omnitool to fix his visor, but his hands kept slipping, slick with his blood. The lights went hazy, then brightened then dimmed.

His nose and throat began to burn and he grasped at his neck. He remembered Markus' warning about the air and so tried to hold his breath, but his lungs hurt so much he was forced to cough. He heard himself wheezing as his body took control completely, taking in the air and thus harming itself more from its poison. 

 A strange orange light was coming towards him.

“We need evac, now!” he heard it say as it came near. The mist parted and Alec came limping toward him. He called out to him unintelligibly, writhing on the ground as the poison sped through his blood. 

“They’re sending down a shuttle! ETA in twenty!” he heard Cora say from Alec's omnitool.

“Scott!” Alec yelled as he scooted beside him. He turned him to the side as Scott heaved.

“Hang on! We’re coming!” Cora promised, but Scott couldn't care anymore. The world turned hazy and he felt an incredible lightness, as if the mist was carrying him away. He turned to Alec's face, unable to speak. He felt an urge that he should say something to this person looking at him, hurting.

Ah, yes. He remembered. The word was "goodbye."

At this, Alec's face stopped looking pained. 

“We don’t have that long,” Alec murmured. He ignored Cora asking for clarifications and reached up. “Deep breaths, son,” he said, then he removed his helmet and put it on him.

Scott breathed in the clean air from the helmet and by degrees, his vision cleared. The world seemed substantial again, memories started flooding back and-he understood what just happened.  Alec was holding his breath as he typed in his override codes.

“What…are…you-” he coughed at Alec. Alec ignored him until he finished, then looked at him as if he was sorry. 

“Initiating transfer,” SAM chimed.

Scott screamed as SAM flooded his brain. He did not feel his father hold him tightly as he thrashed. Through the haze, he saw his father hold him up and look at him with pride. “I love you, son. Tell Sara her father loves her too.” He was saying something else but the pain in his head grew louder and louder until that was all he knew.

* * *

-“He’s having a seizure!”

-“The connection is overloading.”

-“Quick! Get him to SAM node. It’s the only chance he got.”

He opened his eyes and he saw Dr Lexi and Dr Carlyle over him, shouting over each other, their hands moving in front of his body. He raised his hand feebly to ward them off but Dr Lexi caught it and held it against his chest, without looking at him, intent on something beside him. He tried to turn his head, but the white hot pain returned and he lapsed again into unconsciousness.

* * *

Scott opened his eyes and saw a white ceiling staring back down at him. He raised himself up and found he had been lying before SAM’s node. The room was dark, half-illuminated by SAM’s projection and he turned around. He squinted to see the AI’s form; swimming, blinking lights, like fireflies, forming something like a brain, as he puzzled over why was he lying there instead of a more appropriate place like his quarters. 

“Hey. You’re awake,” someone said hoarsely.

Scott turned to his side and saw Marcus emerge from the shadows. His face was bathed with orange light from his omnitool as he informed someone on the other line that Scott was awake.

“What happened?” Scott asked.

Marcus examined him, gauging his reaction. He looked tired. His eyebags look big from the shadows cast by the half-light. “Do you remember us setting down in Habitat 7?” he asked him carefully.

Scott frowned and thought hard. Slowly, the memories came back fast and hard-the descent onto the planet, finding Greer, Cora Alec, then assaulting the alien base, Greer dying, reaching the tower while Cora and Marcus covered them, deactivating the tower, then getting sucked out of it and onto the cliffs below-

“I got thrown off a cliff then my visor broke. Then someone came for me,” he said, then his eyes widened in realization and he yelled. “Dad! Where’s Dad? Where’s my father?” he asked. Fear constricting his throat as he remembered what happened before he fainted.

Marcus looked pained but before he could answer, the door opened and Dr Lexi and Cora walked in.

“I’m so glad you woke up,” the asari greeted, going to his side swiftly. “I thought we would lose you.”

“Where’s my father?”

Dr Lexi hesitated. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “He didn’t make it.”

His mind reeled. So it was true. All of it. His father limping towards him as he gasped for air. Calling for help as he puked his lungs out. Then giving him his own helmet as he said goodbye.

Dr Lexi placed a comforting hand on his back. “He was very brave. What he did-what you all did saved us all. We managed to get away from the thing holding us back around Habitat 7.”

“He sacrificed himself for me,” he said, his tone hollow.

“Of course he did. You're his child; he cares about you.”

Scott was silent on it.

“Before he died, he transferred SAM to you. That’s why you’re here. The connection was too much for your implant. You were convulsing when Cora and the rest found you. You died a couple of times on the way and during treatment, and we were running out of options so we put you here hoping that it will stabilize your connection.”

“It seems to have worked. I’m not a drooling vegetable,” Scott remarked, trying to rally but failing halfway, drawing pained looks from his companions.

Dr Lexi softly patted his back. “But something’s different this time. The implant had overloaded and now, SAM was connected to you on a deeper level. SAM and your neural network had merged, and extracting it now will kill you.”

“That was what I was going to tell you,” Cora blurted out. “You’re the new Pathfinder,” she announced, drawing a reproachful look from Dr Lexi. But she cannot take it back now. He went still, then stared at Cora.

“I thought you’re next in line?”

Cora’s lips thinned. “Yes. But SAM is needed for the Pathfinder and so it comes with the title. Since it can’t be separated from you now, we have no other choice but name you the Pathfinder.”

Scott dropped his eyes, then looked away from Cora. “Yes. We have no other choice then”.

 Cora nodded. Whatever Dr. Lexi may think, he needed to know about his new role or they’ll die. “If you’re ready, Captain Dunn wanted to speak with you.”

Dr Lexi intervened. “We understand if you need more time to think about this-”

“Is Sara awake yet?”

The three exchanged looks. Then Dr Lexi turned back to him. “Do you want to see her?”


	5. Chapter 5

Scott was sitting beside Sara's bed, watching his sibling laid on the bed, breathing softly, eyes closed, as Dr Carlyle was explained to him her condition. The turbulence had caused a loss of gravity in the med bay so her pod was thrown around, causing it to malfunction, interrupting her reawakening cycle which sent her into a coma. Dr. Carlyle informed him that her condition had not improved but from the signs, he was optimistic that she’d wake naturally.

Scott barely heard him. As Dr Carlyle prattled on, Scott took her hand and put it on his cheek. He wanted to let her know, in some way, that he was here and somehow, she’ll understand what he felt and know she was not alone. As he does now.

“Thank you, Doctor,” he said, for the doctor had generously allowed him some minutes in silence and ignored his lapse without offense.

“No problem, Scott. We’ll watch over your sister and let you know about her progress,” the doctor assured him.

Scott nodded and turned away where Marcus and Cora were waiting for him. He walked between them, leading them out into the ark’s main conference room. Inside, Captain Dunn was sitting alone, her mind on something. She had an apprehensive look on her face, which she smoothed away as soon as they entered. 

“Scott Ryder,” she greeted, rising from her seat. “I’m sorry about your loss.”

He nodded. “I appreciate your concern, Captain,” he answered politely.

She led them onto their seats. As they seated themselves, she looked him over.

 Though she was truly sorry for Scott, she mentally rebuked Alec for putting him in this situation in the first place. There’s a reason why the military don’t let people from the same family together in a small unit like theirs and now they’ve ended up with this as predicted.

She did not show it however, by face or manner, as she took her place beside Scott. No need to destroy his morale when their lives depend on his untested shoulders. Though she has doubts of Scott’s credential as Pathfinder due to his age and limited experience, she kept quiet about it. Unlike civilians, they assume competence in one of their own because they are one of their own. Only if there were doubts of his conduct on the job will she deem it the time to challenge him. But right now, he gave her no reason to ask if he was alright. Beside, time will definitely tell whether he was worthy of being Pathfinder... or not. “We need to talk about your new role as Pathfinder, as I did with your father.” She turned to Cora beside him. “I assume you’ve explained to him his primary duties?”

“We’d briefed him of the important parts on the way here,” Cora answered.

“Good.” She nodded at her then turned back to Scott. “Then I’ll just skip to pressing matters. Right now, we’re somewhere in the Heleus cluster. Habitat 7 is supposed to be our home, but it’s too dangerous to return there now. Not with the thing hanging around it.”

“Have you found out what it was?” he asked, with a glance on the purple lump on her forehead.

“Some of our scientists are working on that and so far, we don’t know much about it. It is invisible to our sensors until we hit it. Even so, we can only tell it by the distortion of star field. We’ve seen what happened in Habitat 7, but we reviewed the feeds again and so far, our analysts conclude that it did not originate from there, only that it reacted to the light from Habitat 7.” While the Pathfinder Team was shutting it down, the Hyperion had managed not to get sheared off in half with some carefully managed wiggling. There were a lot of damaged sections because of it, but at least the ark was intact and ready to go FTL as soon as the away team were ready.

“What you did down at Habitat 7 managed to loosen its grip on us. We had barely enough time to wait for your team and go FTL before it seized us again.’’ She glanced at the datapad where the reports concerning the incident were piled up. “I’ve read the report about what happened with your team at Habitat 7 and I want to ask about the tower causing it.”

“It was doing something with the atmosphere so I think it’s some sort of stabilizer? There were aliens around it too. SAM might tell you more.”

“We think the aliens have turned it on, causing it to interact violently with the surrounding space and attract that thing,” Cora explained.

She nodded. “Noted. So to continue, we escaped from Habitat 7. I’ve decided to look for the Nexus and had a team comb the surrounding systems. A few days ago, we picked up a faint exhaust trail, matching the exhaust from the Nexus drive. It leads to a system a few light years from us.”

“So what do you need me to do?”

“We’ll arrive at their location tomorrow,” she said, putting away the datapad. “Prepare your team. After Habitat 7, we don’t know what to expect.”

* * *

The rest of the day was spent on debriefing then preparing for the mission ahead. There was no time to think about his father and sister. Not that he wanted to. He welcomed the distraction, even after realizing that twenty thousand souls were now dependent on him.

Before lights out, he went to the common room beside the Pathfinder team’s quarters. They had a small kitchen adjacent to it and it was empty today. in that small, silent room, he took the time to now think about his father and sister.

He finished wiping his eyes when he heard someone come in and recognized Cora and Marcus voices. He heard them murmur in low voices then stopped at the middle of the room.

“Oh, Scott isn’t in yet?” Marcus said. He went to check on the bedroom, but the beds were still made up as they left it this morning. He went back to the common room, not bothering to check in the kitchen. The sofa sagged beneath him as he sat opposite Cora, who leaned forward and put her elbows on the coffee table, rested her chin on her hands then sighed deeply.

“Marcus, are we going to die?” she said after a while.

Marcus smirked at her. “Giving up already?”

“No. Just seeing reality. We’ve barely arrived but we lost most of our team. On top of that, we lost our Pathfinder who’s the most experienced of us all.”

“Yeah. This really sucks,” Marcus commiserated. “But we’ll pull through. Don’t worry,” he said cheerfully.

She smiled at him. “Always the optimist, huh?”

He grinned. “Never say die.”

A pause, then she asked, “What do you think about Scott?”

Marcus cocked his head, furrowing his brow and narrowing his eyes. “He’s alright,” he concluded. “Not very experienced, but quick to pick up. It’s hard to know what he’s thinking, though. He keeps to himself.” He paused, then snickered. “Loads warmer than old Iceberg, though.”

Cora smiled at the nickname of her mentor, partly from the number of careers he had sunk from the turian Hierarchy, their one-time enemy and partly from his cold demeanor. Then her face went serious again. “He doesn’t seem pleased about the job when we told him about replacing Alec,” she commented with a slight edge to her tone.

“Give him time. He just saw his father die,” Marcus answered, nonchalant. “Besides, I wouldn’t be eager in his shoes. We were all prepared for worst case scenarios and it happened. I’d be scared too when suddenly a thousand lives depended on me.”

Cora did not look pleased from his answer.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

Cora's lips thinned and she took her time to immediately answer him. “I’m really sorry for Scott,” she said slowly, “but I just wondered…if Alec would have chosen me to be Pathfinder.”

“Ah,” Marcus said, the chair creaking as he leaned back.

So that was what’s troubling her. He was impressed with Cora and he thought so too that she would be a perfect fit as their next Pathfinder. But life is not always fair and so he was sorry for what she was about to know. “We weren’t there when they hit the ravine. As I see it, it was his life or Scott’s. He chose his son,” Marcus said to soften the blow. “I hate to break it to you, Cora, but I thought Alec would not have chosen you over his children.”

Her eyes went wide and she looked hurt. Out of all of them bar Scott, Cora was the one around Alec the longest that they thought of her as his protégé. But it was before Scott joined them and he knew even if she didn’t realize it yet, that she was never going to succeed him.

“No, nothing’s wrong with you,” he assured her. “You’re a great part of the team, Cora. You’ve dependable and smart and you’re a great medic on top of your powers. We were lucky to have you.” She smiled a little.

“You don’t need to flatter me,” she said.

“I’m not. I’m just telling the truth. But remember that Alec never taught us personally? So as soon as Scott joined us and he guided him himself, I knew then that Alec wanted him as his successor. At the lightning field, when he took Scott with him, I knew then that he was showing him the ropes.”

Cora bowed her head and looked away.

“Don’t feel too bad about it,” Marcus continued. “It happens in the Alliance and it’s normal on civilian organizations. We’re civilians now so don’t expect they’d care too much about hierarchy around here.”

“I guess you’re right,” Cora said and sighed, then rested her chin in her hands. “After Greer, I think I’m not cut out for being a Pathfinder.”

“You did everything you can. Greer wasn’t your fault. He was just not lucky,” Marcus said. “And if I knew that guy, he would have told you to shut up about it or he’ll think you’re so desperately in love with him.”

Cora snorted. Greer did not like overly fussy people and he would turn them away by making it look like their interest was the effect of his powerful charisma.

“Shit, this sucks,” she repeated, but she raised her head and sighed. “Anyway, we should go to sleep. There's a lot of things we need to do tomorrow.”

“Yep,” Marcus said, standing up. “Don’t wanna miss why the Nexus is missing. I hope they’ve fared better than us.”

“I hope so too. I don’t know if I can take more bad news after what we just went through.”

They said goodnight to each other and went to their respective rooms, Marcus in their mostly empty quarters and Cora outside, bunking somewhere with the other women. When the door hissed shut, Scott crouched down, and put his face in his hands, in anger and despair.

* * *

 The next day, they found the Nexus orbiting a gas giant. But they would have mistaken it for floating junk, not a station by the way it looked. They expected it was fully built, but what was in front of them now was riddled with holes, its parts hanging off and floating in space.

Scans indicated that it had sustained heavy damage. They stared in shock as it hung listlessly in orbit.

What happened here? Why is it so...so...dilapidated? Did it encounter the mysterious thing too? Or did something worse happen?

“Nexus control, this is Hyperion requesting clearance to dock. Come in, Nexus,” Lani said, tapping at her console as they stared at the hollowed tube-like station on the screen. Static. She tried again, but the same thing happened and she looked behind to Captain Dunn for direction.

“Take us in, Lani,” the captain said evenly but her fingers were curled on the arm rest. As Lani complied, Dunn turned to Scott standing on the railing above her. “Is your team ready?”

Scott nodded. “We’d be at the docks.” He nodded at his team beside him and with a nod from the captain, they went out of the bridge and into the docking bay. They put on their armor and got their gear and started checking as they waited for Lani to tell them that they have docked. After a few minutes, she gave the signal and they raised their weapons and then walked through the connecting duct.

They arrived at the door. Cora and Marcus positioned themselves on both sides as Scott hacked it. As soon as the door opened, Scott dashed away as Cora and Marcus checked for hostiles. There were none so with a signal, Scott led them in, keeping quiet as possible. “Eyes, peeled,” he reminded them and they swept the corridors of the station. It was pitch dark and silent. Nothing stirred; the air was stale and still.

“It’s empty. Where are the people?” Scott whispered but his voice still echoed in the silent corridors.

“Don’t see signs of a fight,” Cora commented, looking at crates piled haphazardly around the pristine white walls, free of scrapes, soot or bullet holes.

“A plague?” Marcus suggested, his eyes scanning the other side.

“Not likely,” Scott answered, the light from his scanner falling on the potted plants on corners. It shone back green and healthy. “The environmental controls are working.”

Then they heard a faint buzzing sound. They nodded at each other and crouching down as they walked with their weapons in front of them, they followed the sound until the corridor opened to some sort of atrium.

Someone was fixing the wiring from high up. Someone with two legs, a torso and two arms. A human, wearing Initiative gear.

Scott stopped crouching and put the muzzle down. “Hey! Over here!” he shouted, waving his hand as they ran toward him. The man looked around, surprised, nearly dropping from his perch. Then he saw them. He jumped down and met them at the bottom.

Scott introduced themselves. “Scott Ryder, Pathfinder of the Hyperion. This is Cora Harper and Marcus Zola.”

The man blinked several times before he could answer. “Pathfinder? Hyperion? You-You’re not one of us?” The man started choking but he remembered how important this was. “Kandros need to know this. Hell-everyone needs to know this,” he said excitedly and tapped at his omnitool. “Anselm to Kandros. The Hyperion has arrived. I repeat, the Hyperion has arrived. Their pathfinder is here with me.” Static, then a flanging voice answered. “Hyperion? Shit-keep them there and wait for me. I’ll tell the others.”

Anselm’s omnitool went dark and he turned back to them. He looked at them as if he was about to cry. “You’re the best thing we’ve seen in years.”

Marcus stepped forward and placed his hands on his shoulders. “It’s alright, now. We’ve got you, man,” he reassured him, looking kindly into his eyes. He released him and looked him over then gave a pat on his shoulder. “Are we good?”

Anselm nodded. He was about to say something when they heard claw-like tapping getting louder. They looked around and saw a turian running around the bend. He skidded to a stop when he saw them. “Spirits, it really is true,” he murmured. He walked forward and stood in front of Ryder.

“Tiran Kandros. Nexus Security,” he said, his dark eyes glittering from his grey face plates, sky-blue stripes across his cheek and plunging down his mouth and chin. “Sorry about not preparing a welcome party. We were doing critical repairs and thought it safe to leave dock control for a moment.”

“Where is everyone?” Marcus asked.

“I’ve informed the rest and they’d be expecting you at the ops center. Follow me, I’ll explain on the way.”

They waved goodbye at Anselm and jogged beside the turian to the tram station. “So what happened here? Why is it so dark?” Scott asked.

The turian looked ahead grimly. “A lot of things happened. You’ll get the details later but let’s just say we’ve lost more than half of our people. The rest of us are doing their best to keep this ship together which is difficult considering that it’s leaking like a rusty bucket.”

They reached the tram station and went in one of the compartments. Kandros tapped on the screen and then they were moving.

“I have to warn you that you won’t be meeting the senior leadership,” Kandros continued. “They were all dead or missing shortly after we arrived.”

“So who are we meeting?” Cora asked.

“Some people are filling in. Even I’m not supposed to be in security and yet here I am.”

“We’ve run into some sort of anomaly on the way to Habitat 7. We’ve also lost some people,” Scott informed him.

“You’ve also ran into that?” Kandros wondered softly. “What happened at Habitat 7?”

“We couldn’t go and settle there with it hanging over it. It was ripping the planet apart.”

“I see,” Kandros said. The tram came into a stop. “We’re here,” he said, and led the way inside.

The operations center was as dark as the habitation deck, but they could see people working on their consoles, scrambling to tell the others that the Hyperion has arrived and prepare to receive them. The people stopped and gaped as they walked up the stairs above the station, then someone barked sharply and they scurried off. They reached the top and in the midst of it, they saw three people directing orders. The three noticed them and turned to face them. Scott did not recognize any of them.

On the left was a black woman of average height, with a stocky build and a plain face. She had a scar running up from her mouth to left cheek, which made her look as if she was snarling. She regarded them with a serious demeanor despite looking just a few years older than Cora. The one in the middle was a human woman with a pixie-cut, who looks to be in her late thirties but appearing much older. Her jacket was worn inside out. Her face was thin and ashen with shadows under her eyes, but she managed to smile as they came near. The other one was a krogan of a dull, brown color and soft face plates. She looked at them with eyes not yet differentiated into slits in a face marked with a blue clan tattoo.

The one in the middle stepped forward and welcomed them. “Welcome to the Nexus. We’re the administration. I’m Foster Addison, the acting administrator. This is Sloane Kelly, our chief security and Kesh Nakmor who handles logistics,” she said, presenting the two beside her.

“Scott Ryder, human Pathfinder,” Scott answered, shaking her hand. He pointed at the two behind him. “This is Cora Harper and Marcus Zola.”

“ _Scott Ryder_?” the black woman, Sloane, said in a deep but haughty voice. “I thought we’d be expecting an Alec Ryder as the Hyperion’s Pathfinder.”

“He’s my father. And…” His throat constricted with the thought but he forced himself to say it. “He’s dead. He didn’t make the trip.”

There was silence at this announcement. Kesh just stared at them with her dark eyes. Sloane looked him over then at Marcus and Cora, giving them a look, pointedly asking why they were not the Pathfinder when they looked older than him. They did not answer back but instead shuffled slightly closer to his side. Meanwhile, Addison stared at them, mouth slightly open, then started nervously wringing her fingers. Her face threatened to crumble but she held on. “I’m sorry for your loss. We have lost a lot of-.”

Sloane blew up. “We’re dead in the water, about to go hungry then we’re supposed to depend on a fucking baby?” she yelled.

“I’m sure the _baby_ didn’t have a choice. Like you did,” Kesh spoke, her deep voice echoing into the room full of people still in shock. “May I remind you that you also inherited your position?”.

Sloane glared at Kesh for that unwanted introduction of reason but she did not question his promotion further.

Addison by now have composed her face back to politeness. “It’s best if we talk about this privately,” she said, in a cheery but brittle voice. “Amenities are scarce for the moment, but we’ll try our best to accommodate you. Is there someone we can speak to for the arrangements?”

“Our captain and her team might be able to help you with that.”

“Your Captain? Your Captain survived?” she asked, her voice loud in surprise. She started looking at them with hope. “Then it’s best if she was here too.”

Sloane turned to Kandros beside them. “Contact their people and tell them we request their captain’s presence for a briefing. Also, continue the preparations for their arrival.”

He nodded and as they watched him walk away, it felt as if hope was moving further and further away, leaving them to fall in dread and despair. The Nexus damaged, their leaders dead. How could they hope to survive in a place like this now?


	6. Chapter 6

They were waiting in the conference room when Captain Dunn arrived. The humans jumped up from their seats. Addison and Kesh rose also but slowly with a confused look at them.

"No need for that," Captain Dunn said and she nodded at them to take their seats. They seated themselves after the captain had taken hers. “So why have you called me here?” she asked those left behind in the Nexus.

Addison spoke first. “Let me just say that I’m happy you all arrived safely here at the Nexus." Captain Dunn smiled ruefully at that as Addison went on. "Yours was the first ark that arrived. Please excuse us for not being prepared. A lot of things happened in the past year.”

The smile quickly became serious. "What happened?” she asked, remembering the Nexus looking gutted when they first arrived.

“We’ve arrived at Andromeda as scheduled,” Addison started to explain. “Then as we were going deeper into the cluster on the rendezvous point, we’ve hit an anomaly. Most of the damage was on the cryo pods deck. Unfortunately most of the Initiative leaders were sleeping there. Jien Garson and many others died.”

"Let me guess-invisible to sensors and able to pass through shields?"

Sloane looked at her knowingly. "Seems you've encountered it too."

Captain Dunn nodded. “Thankfully, our Pathfinding team managed to free us from it in time, though not without losses,” she said, with a proud glance at Scott and his team.

“The Nexus was shredded before we figured out how to free ourselves,” Addison continued. “We had to detonate one of our drives. Unfortunately, the explosion had knocked us off course and blown away half of our building materials. With one drive, we were hobbling. Our survival then took priority. After we’re stable enough, we started building the Nexus. But with half of our materials gone, we needed to send out people.  The rest of the leadership turned into emergency Pathfinders to search for planets where we could extract materials or establish outposts to keep us stable.”

“Then all of them went silent,” Sloane said. “As we tried to find them, a mutiny broke out. When we hit the anomaly, it also triggered the reawakening program early. So we’ve got thousands of colonists waking up only to see their ship about to be blown apart. We managed to calm them during the time we were trapped, but we’re not as successful after. We convinced some of them to return to cryo but the others refused. They were terrified to go back and adamant about not dying in their sleep. But with the rationing and the work, they started to grumble again. The disappearance of the Pathfinders was the last straw. Some people were tired of waiting and so tried to jump ship. Others had..different agendas. Senior Tesius Caedus, the one left behind to oversee this station, was killed in the riots. And then someone released a powerful virus into our main computer. We’re still repairing the damage but for the time being, our systems are scrambled.”

“What happened with the mutineers?”

“We let them go,” Addison answered. “Please understand, the situation was dire. We have to let them go or the station will be torn apart. They left with our remaining materials and we’ve been surviving ever since.”

Captain Dunn looked at the three of them. “So it’s just the three of you here.”

“There’s Director Tann. He’s the deputy director of revenue management and next in line of the succession,” Addison confessed.

Captain Dunn searched their side. “And where is he now?” she asked, not seeing anyone else.

 “Director Tann is indisposed,” Kesh informed them.

“By indisposed we meant popsicled,” Sloane clarified. “After Senior Caedus was killed, he assumed command. But he was more harmful than helpful especially during the riots, all regulation this, regulation that so I stuffed him in the fridge.”

“That’s rather extreme,” Scott remarked.

She shrugged “Yeah well, he was no help and actually made it worse,” Sloane said and continued. “To keep the situation under control, Addison here decided to wake the krogan.”

“Krogans can survive without food and water for months,” Addison explained, her tone a little defensive. “This was why they were allowed here in the Initiative: to oversee the Nexus during the 600 year journey along with some asari because of their long lives. Of course, they were screened beforehand and Nakmor Rusk is of the reasonable sort of Krogan. He asked to have a representation on the Nexus in exchange for their help. With our chief security, William Spender, out of contact and the riots getting worse, I think my actions are justified,” she said, raising her chin a little.

“William Spender?” Captain Dunn asked.

“My former boss,” Sloane explained. “Due to a misunderstanding, he joined the mutineers and then into exile.”

“And you didn’t?”

“I got spaced. I didn’t get to choose until well after the riots started,” she answered. “So, the Nakmor clan forced the mutineers to a stalemate, where we agreed to part ways. But when the coast was clear and Rusk came to collect, Director Tann rescinded the deal because it did not follow regulations. So Tann nearly got himself strangled and all of us nearly killed, if Kesh wasn’t there to intervene. She tried to persuade them back into the fold, but the damage was done. Rusk won’t trust us again and left together with his own clan.”

“And then the fridge stuffing happened,” Scott said.

“It happened after. I was pissed about how he handled the crisis. He ordered me to fall in line because he was eight in line of the succession and told me that I have to respect that. I answered that we are in a civilian station. We don’t give a damn about military hierarchy. And so he’s back in cryo.”

Then they fell silent, then all of them turned towards Captain Dunn, who was silently contemplating this series of unfortunate events. “So it seems there’s a lot of things to do around here,” she observed.

The three from the Nexus exchanged looks, locking eyes then finally seeming to have agreed on something. “That’s why we called you here,” Addison said carefully to Captain Dunn. “We’ve seen how the Hyperion has arrived intact. And the Nexus needed a leadership. We thought you were qualified and we are offering you the position of Acting Director of the Nexus, until such a time that the Nexus Pathfinders are found.”

Captain Dunn’s brows rose and she blinked several times. “Of course,” she said smoothly. She turned to Sloane. “And I expect you’ll give a damn about military hierarchy from now on?”

“Yes, Ma’am. As long as we do our jobs,” Sloane said with a slight smirk.

Captain Dunn looked around the room and over them all. “Now that the leadership problem is resolved, I’ll need to speak with you individually later. But we need to focus on our most pressing problem. Right now, we’re severely low on resources. We need a colony.” She turned to the three. “Is there something you can provide for our Pathfinder?”

“We found a suitable planet, Eos,” Addison said. “It’s extremely hot and the atmosphere’s not compatible, but our experts say we can start a settlement there. We tried to establish outposts. But it failed twice.”

Sloane turned to Scott. “We’ve found alien presence there and violent wildlife. If you’re going down there, bring lots of firepower,” she said and he nodded.

“There is something else,” Addison said to him. “It’s best if we call our science team. They can explain what they found.”

* * *

“The golden worlds are..not what we expected, but we found potential in the nearest one, Eos,” Dr Leynomi Aridana, the expert in astrophysics and leader of the Nexus science team, explained. "It contains some strange alien structures on the surface. We'll call them monoliths for now." She tapped at the console in front of her and a projection of a planet appeared in the middle of the table. Then a cut section floated from it, showing and magnifying the strange buildings. They all saw tall dark pillars,  with glowing lines running from the sides, jutting from the ground at an angle. 

"Preliminary analysis from soil samples and rocks indicate the world wasn’t habitable for organic life but then we detect changes caused by climate sometime after these structures were built," Chief Lucan, the team's xenogeologist, explained. "We think those structures may have played a role in the formation of the habitable worlds. However, time lapse images from halfway the trip here show that the climate changed again a hundred years ago and became hostile. Present living organisms are currently struggling to survive on those conditions.”

“There were two attempts to test the feasibility of a colony there and also to study those monoliths," Dr. Aridani added. "However, those failed due to attacks from the wildlife and hostile aliens. But before they died, they had transmitted their data to us. What we discovered was…shocking.” She paused. She looked away from the projection to address them all. “We may have different reasons for going here in Andromeda but for us scientists, it’s because we saw a chance of discovery of a lifetime. Now, part of the reason we went here was because we saw proof of habitable worlds in this cluster, right? Statistically, this concentration of habitable worlds in one cluster is unlikely to happen in nature-unless there is outside interference.  We have pored over the data the field teams had transmitted and we conclude something like it occurred.”

Captain Dunn nodded. “Go on.”

“We’ve tried to establish another outpost,” Addison cut in. As you can see, we’ve failed. We won’t risk more people out there unless we became stable. We were hoping you can change our luck,” said, with a hopeful look at Scott.

“But what about the…thing we’ve ran into?" Scott asked, not daring yet to fulfill her hope. "Judging from what happened to us in Habitat 7, it may appear there.”

“We’re calling it the Shroud for now,” Dr Aridana answered. “We’ve been running tests on it and so far, we don’t know what’s causing it. But from your experience, we can theorize that it reacts to the activation of those alien structures. If it is true, then this is…troubling.” The doctor fell silent, her brow furrowing, making the pink speckles of her face converge like the stars on the night sky drawn together by an invisible force. Her face went grimmer but then she shook her head and focused on them again. “But we think Eos is too far in the cluster for it to appear. We think that the black hole at the center of the cluster is having an effect on it. We’ve observed streams of it being sucked into the black hole on a system near us.”

“What else have you found about it?” Captain Dunn inquired.

“It seems to surround the whole cluster, concentrating on the outer edges. We also confirmed that it can appear out of nowhere. We don’t know if it has a source, or it is simply there. It doesn’t show up in our sensors until the moment something enters its territory.” She stopped again and frowned. “What’s even stranger is that it destroys anything that’s technologically advanced than a spoon instantly, but takes its time disintegrating people.”  

They gaped at her.

“What do you mean it takes its time disintegrating people?” Captain Dunn asked.

“So far, it devours everything inorganic and anything organic that we throw at it, be it just a piece of meat or a pyjak. However, the vids at first contact with it show that people hit in the cryo deck did not get destroyed immediately. Their cryo pods were disintegrated, then it stopped when it reached the people. It only started disintegrating them when they died from suffocation.”

There was a long, tense silence. They tried hard not to imagine the last moments of those unfortunate people caught in it.  

“So…is that thing sentient?” Scott asked. “Or just intelligent?”

Sloane scoffed. “You think an invisible barrier is sentient?”

“You think something that can distinguish people isn't?”

Captain Dunn drummed her fingers on the table. “Let’s go back to the topic at hand.” She looked over at Dr. Aridana, who looked at Professor Henrik who looked uncertainly back at her with his large dark eyes. The professor rubbed his temple, almost near his ash gray horn. “We...don’t know. The tests are inconclusive and we’ve long stopped investigating it when resources were diverted to more pressing issues.”

Scott broke the silence. “So let me guess this straight. You’re saying we’re stuck here, with few resources, with all the golden worlds busted, and can’t go back even if we had a fuel for it because there’s some something out there ready to shred us as soon as we do?”

“That’s about it, yes,” Sloane said coldly.

Captain Dunn waved her hand sharply to get their attention. “I know we’ve got lot of problems right now and we’ve been through much just getting here,” she said with sympathy. “I know there seems to be only problems ahead but we can only move forward.  Succumbing to fear won’t work, the situation can only get better if we go out there, get past our fear and act,” she told them, looking them all in the eye.

“So enough about the Shroud,” she said, changing the subject. “Right now, our priority is those structures,” she said, pointing at the projection then turned to the science team. “You say Eos is not habitable as of present, but those alien structures might help in improving viability?”

"If we can make it work to benefit us then yes," Dr. Aridana replied.

"That's good enough. I'll take that chance," Captain Dunn said and she looked over at Scott. “I assume you know what to do now?”

Scott nodded. But he needed to know more so he looked over at the science team. “But about those aliens. They were around the structure causing the storm that trapped our ark. They weren't friendly.’’

Dr. Henrik nodded. “So far, none of the attempts of the field teams to establish peaceful contact with them have succeeded. From the biological samples available and a study of their equipment, we conclude that they were not native of Eos. The planet has no record of any civilization and judging from their ships capable of interstellar flight, it is highly likely they were not from there.”

“From what we can see of their facilities, it seems to be more of a temporary outpost than a settlement,” Chief Lucan added.

"But are the monoliths theirs?"

"Hard to say," Chief Lucan said slowly. "Images of their outpost and the monoliths have widely different designs. We've also observed them interacting with the monoliths without success." He stopped, his white cheek plates flaring a little in frustration. " We...think that it's not theirs, but we won't rule out the possibility that it is." 

They all looked to Captain Dunn.

“This is a matter for survival now,” she declared. “We'll deal with the repercussions later.” She turned to Scott. "Take it over."

There was a barely audible sigh around the room but from the nervous looks around the table, they weren't ecstatic about their next course of action either.

“We have a partial translation of their language. We’ll upload it to SAM’s databanks as soon as we return to our lab,” Dr Henrik suggested.

Scott thanked him.

A lull fell after that so Captain Dunn looked around the table. “Anything else?” she asked.

A look passed between the Nexus leaders, a pleading one from Addison answered by a slightly furious one from Sloane, which is replied by a goading one from Kesh. After minutes of staring at each other, Sloane decided to announce their decision. “It’s a..security matter,” she said. “But I think it can wait. I’ll discuss this with you in depth later,” she told the captain.

Captain Dunn gazed at her then nodded. “I’ll have to talk to each of you regarding the specifics of your field. Are there anything else our Pathfinder need to know?”

They've talked all there is to know so Captain Dunn ended the meeting. 

As the people filled out of the room, Scott looked at them one by one, wondering if they have seen someone he needed. 


	7. Chapter 7

After Captain Dunn was done speaking to Kesh, Sloane and Addison, Scott and his team decided to talk to them also. They chose to start with Addison, who seemed more pleasant than the others. Not only do they look forward to talking with her, it's also smart to start the day pleasantly so they could survive the unpleasant ones later which they suspect, from Sloane's reception of them, that it's bound to happen. 

They were led into a tiny office, which was full of stacked crates and looked frankly untidy. Piles of datapads was stacked on the desk and the console on the wall was filled with persistent blinking lights. Addison rose from her seat, ignoring it and asked them to take their seat.

“Sorry about the mess. I haven’t got the time to tidy up,” she said sheepishly. She carried some of the datapads off her desk and put it somewhere behind her so they could see her. They later heard the sound of a stack tumbling over. _Tlack, Tlack, Tlack._

Addison let it tumble until the last one stopped and then she spoke. “So what can I do for you?”

“We were just curious about what you do here and what happened after the Nexus arrived,” Scott said, the two nodding.

“Ah. I think we’ll be talking for a long time,” she answered then pushed a button on her console. She instructed her assistant to get them some coffee. “Now, where to start?” she asked softly, casting her eyes around the room as she twiddled her thumbs. “I’m supposed to be the Colony Director of the Initiative, but in the death of our leaders and the failure of our colonies, I’m tasked as the administrator of the Nexus. Sloane handles the security while Kesh handles logistics. I handle everything else: operations, personnel management and comms sometimes.”

Her assistant appeared holding a tray and offered them all a cup. They did not speak until after he went out. Addison downed hers as soon as it was put on her table.

Scott thanked her, holding his mug while Marcus sipped at his. He wasn’t a coffee drinker but he thought it impolite to turn it down.

“How bad is it?” he asked, not only due to her report at the first meeting but also concern for her. There were fine lines on her face, almost as if she lost weight, and her eyes have dark circles underneath them. She was also sliding her fingers on the teeth of her jacket's zipper absently. 

“For specifics in our living conditions, you need to ask Kesh. But honestly, it’s bad. Most of our equipment were scrambled and we haven’t replaced the drive we’ve detonated. Critical people are missing so we have to make do with their replacements who may not be trained in the job we need. Basic necessities are available, but we might need to ration soon if we don’t scavenge, even with our lab grown food.” She looked down sadly at her now empty mug. “We’re using the recyclers now.”

Marcus spat out his coffee. The other two stared at him as he coughed.

“Marcus, they would have filtered all the impurities out of that coffee before allowing anyone to drink it,” Cora informed him when he calmed down.

“I know,” Marcus answered, wiping his mouth. After a slight pause, Addison continued on without comment, but Marcus never touched his mug again for the duration of the interview and tried hard not to stare at the used mugs scattered all over her office.

“How are the people?”

“They’ve been through a lot of tough times. Tempers are frayed, and morale is still low. A lot of people have already lost hope in our mission.” Suddenly, Addison adopted a long-suffering but brave face, like the kind seen when rallying people to a lost cause. “But we know we mustn’t lose hope. We should continue to persevere. The only way around our problem is through.”

They stared at her. She caught herself and coughed. “Sorry. I forgot you weren’t of the Nexus. Months of desperate living and you resort to jingles to keep the morale up. I’ve done it so often I could do it in my sleep.’’

“Can’t you just make a VI of you saying those things?” Scott suggested carelessly. He haven’t really thought deeply about it, just his tongue overtaking his brain as usual.

Addison stared at him, not speaking for a few minutes. Her bleary eyes struggled to focus on him, as if he had offered a lifeline she struggles to grab. “I haven’t thought of that,” she said at last. “Yes, it would have made my work easier.” Her shoulders relaxed as she leaned back in her seat and sighed. “I could laugh if I wasn’t so tired.”

Scott looked at the two. They had no further questions and, pitying Addison, decided to let her rest. “Well, there’s that. We won’t be keeping you. Thank you for all the information, Addison. ”

Instead of answering, Addison stared into space. Then she looked up at them, her eyes hopeful. "Just...tell me one thing. Alec-he has a plan right? He has a plan for all of..this."

Scott looked at her with pity. "I'm sorry. I can't answer that." He glanced at his companions but they all looked as lost as he is. "If he did, he didn't share it with me." 

Addison went still then she sighed. Her head dipped slightly, then raised with her face with the same cheerfulness the first time they met her. Even if it was forced.

"Well, then. We can't do anything about it now." She rose up, her face looking like she want them out and be alone. “Come see me if you need anything.” She led them to the door but before they could step outside, she said, “One last thing. Don't forget to talk to Sloane Kelly. She’ll explain to you why.”

* * *

They found Sloane hunched over her desk. “We need to have those sensors working,” she barked at someone on the other line, one hand resting on her cornrows, the other extended, her fingers on a lot of blinking lights. “We’re lucky it’s the Hyperion who just swanned in, but if it’s something else, we’re dead. And someone get to Raj Patel and investigate why our wirings keep blowing up? I need to finish this damn murder case.”

Scott leaned against the side of the door and crossed his arms. “Busy? Addison said we needed to speak with you.”

Sloane looked up from her desk to glare at them. Then she sighed. "We'll talk later," she said to the other line and cut it off without waiting for an answer. She waved at them to take their seats. “Let’s get this over with.’’

They took their seat as she looked them over with distaste. “I handle the security around here. It wasn’t supposed to be the case but here we are," she said briskly. "Now, the reason why Addison directed you here is because there is something important you need to know before you go out there. If you value your life.”

They weren't looking forward to spending any more time with Sloane but they sat up attentively when she said _If you value your life_. Sloane tapped on a console and there was a clicking noise as the door locked. Then white noise started filtering from a hidden speaker.

“We told you that Jien Garson was killed when we arrived here at Andromeda. That…wasn’t exactly true. Jien Garson wasn’t killed when the Barrier hit the Nexus. It was long after. She died due to cardiac arrest caused by a nanobot.”

They gaped at her. “So…you’re saying she was murdered?” Scott asked.

Sloane nodded. “It was professional. Almost clean, if I hadn’t seen it before. It was made to look like her heart gave out due to stress. I don’t rule out the mutineers completely but I suspect they had nothing to do with this. It’s too silent and stealthy for them. They have nothing to gain by her death and if they had, they would surely have bragged it to us by now. No, we’re dealing with professional assassins here,” she stressed. “And I’m open to the possibility that the same happened to the other Pathfinders who were missing.”

She reached out to a stack of datapads, opened them and gave it to them. “Here’s dossiers of the missing leaders. For your eyes only.”

Scott scanned them and found that the missing pathfinders came from extremely skilled backgrounds. Blackwatch. N7. STG and Huntresses. All of them knew how to survive on alien worlds. All of them would be extremely hard to kill, if their suspicion of internal sabotage is correct.  If they were all dead, it would mean that something more powerful than anything their galaxy has to offer had come with them. And that something is still at large.

But why? Why travel all the way to this galaxy just to kill them as soon as they arrive? And who would be spiteful enough to chase them here when they’re millions of light-years away?

“Captain Dunn decided to keep it internal for now. We tried our best to find them but so far, no luck. And with our current problems now, this is not going to be followed up soon. But maybe I'm wrong and you’ll come across the senior leaders when you go out there. But keep your eyes and ears open. You’ll be meeting exiles and aliens. Maybe you’ll meet the killers there. Or here.”

Sloane handed another datapad to Scott. Scott read the autopsy of the Initiative leader and read that they recovered a nanobot that ended her life. Though it was unlucky for the Initiative leader, lucky for them, it was ensconced in the clot that stopped her heart. 

“A nanobot?" Scott wondered. "Who would be sophisticated enough to make one?”

Sloane made a sharp snort of irritation. “Didn’t your Daddy tell you? The Initiative is full of tech breaking countless Council regulations which would damn the Alliance a million times over. AI? Cloning technology? Arks the size of destroyers? Jien Garson made all this, foreseeing anything that we might need here. She may be crazy, but she was damn prepared." Her tone softened. "But it’s also not impossible that someone may have done the same thing.”

He was grateful for the information but he did not like her tone so he didn’t answer back. He studied the dossiers again. Some of the other Pathfinders were familiar to him, because some of them were acquaintances of his father. There was Aemulus Abrudas, Alec’s rival. They have met during the First Contact War when the Alliance went to retake Shangxi from the turians. Even after the dust cleared and the misunderstanding was resolved, the wounds sustained by both race still hasn’t healed. The turian hated his father’s guts, but curiously, he accorded him respect, although grudgingly. It was born from their mutual experience during the war. Alec repaid it in kind. The combination of this and hatred seems like an odd friendship to those looking from outside.

He flipped over the next. Jurdern Silben, a retired STG operative. Tevana Iallisir, a former huntress. Both with decorated records. He flipped to the last one and stopped dead.

Looking at him was a face of a family friend. Arthur Bentham.

An N7 like his father, but he wasn’t part of Jon Grissom’s team who went through the Charon Relay. He fought in the First Contact War, but he did not distinguish himself like his father did. Later, he fought during the Skyllian Blitz but he was pulled out early due to grave injuries. After that, he has no notable achievements for an N7. Perhaps because the chance of glory has passed and he missed it.

But Alec have welcomed him into their home. He also friends with his mother. Scott remembered the three of them talking late into the night. As a child, Scott slips out of his bed just to hear them talk. He isn’t gifted in the sciences like Sara but he was fascinated by it, even when hearing the three of them talking about it sound like alien gibberish to him. Then Bentham slipped out and found him on a darkened corner, listening to them talk past his bedtime.

His features have nothing noteworthy with them. Dark eyes, Dark hair and pale skin. But he was kind and mild-mannered. Bentham looked at him then back at the kitchen where his parents are talking. He turned back to him and smiled, putting a finger to his lips. The he ruffled his hair as he passed.

Bentham was very fond of them, even though he never had children of his own. Scott and Sara thought of him as their eccentric “uncle.” Sara may have thought no more of him as just that, but to Scott, he was his favorite. Because Bentham never saw him as anything other than himself. Certainly not someone to establish a Ryder dynasty, as others had. _Everyone must cast their own shadow,_ he once said to him, and this advice he took to heart.

It was also from him that Scott learned the skill of being perfectly insulting while being perfectly polite, a skill no one of his family had ever learned. It was a small thing, but to Scott, who had long been overshadowed by them, it gives him a great deal of satisfaction.

He knew he had come too, which made the thought of going here at Andromeda bearable but he expected him be here. Not missing. 

“Now do you have further questions?” Sloane asked, interrupting his thoughts.

“Any leads?”

She frowned at him. “That is the least of your priorities. Worry about getting us a home Pathfinder. I’ll worry about this one.”

Scott handed the datapad back to her. “We won’t keep you,” he said and rose from his seat.

Sloane nodded and led them out. Before the door, she said to him, “Good luck out there, Pathfinder. You’re lucky you’re not cooped up here." Then her tone shifted in the jeering one that was always present underneath her interactions with them. "Prior to your arrival here, I was assured by the captain of your qualifications as a Pathfinder. Experience is... _minimal_ but I'm sure your training under Alec is enough to make up for it," she said, sounding like she wasn't least bit reassured. "However, I’m curious to see if you can fill your daddy’s shoes.”

“I’ll spare you the worry, _ma’am,_ and tell you directly that I wouldn’t be able to. Because Dad has big feet,” Scott answered, his tone neutral. 

She looked at him for a while, narrowing her eyes, unsure whether he was mocking her or not. But his face stayed perfectly placid so she let them out without a word.

* * *

The door of Sloane’s office closed behind them and they were back on the operations deck. They only need to talk to Kesh now.

“What the fuck is her problem with me?” Scott asked irritably,  nodding back at the closed door as they walked underneath the ops center to get to the other side. 

“Let it go, Scott. Nothing we can do about it now except prove her wrong about you,"  Marcus advised with a glance at Cora. She was silent, but her lips were thin with her eyes on their surroundings. 

Scott wasn't mollified yet. “Do any of you have intel on her?”

“She’s former Alliance,” Cora finally spoke in a quiet tone. “A biotic trained under BAaT program. She also is a recipient of L2 implants. She had a near perfect record in the Alliance until her discharge. CAT6.”

Scott raised a brow at her at hearing the Alliance term for dishonorable discharge. “Near perfect?”

“There were complaints of a violent temper. Her last record was an altercation with an officer and her fellow Alliance soldiers which also involved a turian soldier. It had caused a scandal in the leadership and raised tensions between the Alliance and the Hierarchy. She was sent to court martial then found guilty of aggravated assault. That maybe explains why she’s here." She paused and when she continued, her voice was soft. “I’ve heard children sent to BAaT-Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training- don’t come out right and the L2 implants were known to make you crazy. Still, all of it would not have convinced the Alliance to let a biotic like her go, unless she cost them too much to keep.”

He glanced at her curiously. “Did something like that happened to you?”

“No. The Alliance and I parted ways amicably. They were very convincing in trying to make me stay and I’m grateful for everything they have done for me but..” Cora looked away into the distance, “let’s just say I thought my future didn’t lie with them anymore.”

Scott decided not to press her and so looked forward, his thoughts swinging back to Sloane. He reviewed again her past and nearly smiled smugly. "Guess I don't have anything to prove to her," he muttered. With that, he put Sloane out of his mind and prepared himself to meet the last of the Nexus leaders.

They reached the door to Kesh office. Kesh opened it for them and beckoned them inside leading them to their seats. Her office was cramped with crates but she moved nimbly among her things to make them comfortable. 

She sat opposite them and introduced herself. “I’m Nakmor Kesh. I’m part of the original team that built the Nexus and the arks and now I’m supervising the logistics and maintenance of this station. If you need equipment or anything built, repaired or maintained, come see me.”

“You’re not what I expected of a krogan,” Marcus murmured, in surprise and awe.

Kesh made a deep, exasperated sigh. “Yes, Krogans are such mindless brutes they cannot do anything other than kill, crush and roar.” She roared the last part, a loud roar that reverberated against the walls, pinned them against their seats, and made them remember why krogans are so feared. She coughed and asked in her usual calm voice, “Now, am I krogan enough for you yet?”

They both nodded, Marcus swallowing rapidly.

“Now that I proved I’m krogan, can we now talk about important things?”

“We meant no offense. Marcus was just surprised at seeing female krogans. We never see some of your kind much,” Scott explained hurriedly.

Kesh noted that he only deflected from the real issue but let it pass for now. “I don’t blame you. We females stay home in Tuchanka trying to make sure our race doesn’t go extinct while the males are off fighting their stupid wars, spreading their idiocy all over the galaxy. That’s why I’m here. I thought the history of the krogan is beyond hope that starting all over again in the Milky Way is impossible. “

“Do the other krogans think the same way?” Cora inquired. 

“Unfortunately not, as the uprising has proven. Some of us intend to carry on their grudge, not realizing that their prized history of wars do not matter here anymore. I fear we’re going to repeat the same mistakes we did during our wars but this time, it may be the end for us. We need each other, now more than ever, and brute strength is not enough.”

“I agree,” Scott said enthusiastically, trying to make up for the blunder earlier. “About the uprising. Addison said you managed to convince Nakmor Rusk to spare all of you? Just like that?”

“Despite our reputation, some of us are capable of reason," Kesh said, with a little stress on their reputation. "Rusk does. Besides, we are clan-mates and family is important to us. But after Tann denied him, Rusk lost hope on the Initiative to the point that he won’t kill us personally. “You’d die on your own, with or without me,” he said. I feared he was right...until you came.” She looked out the window, where the power from the Hyperion drive had made some essential functions online and managed to make living in the Nexus a little less dire. “And for that, you have my vote.”

“Thank you. But I’m wondering about your future. Last I heard, the genophage still hasn’t cured. Is that going to affect your species?”

“Oh that. Some of us hasn’t spent the journey here in cryo like you do. Some of us has started gene therapy as soon as we’re out of Council space. And some of them developed a mutation that allowed them to circumvent the virus. We’ve raised our fertility rate to 4%. It’s not much, but it’s enough to ensure our species’ survival.”

“I assume the other races have something to say about that?”

“The therapy was done under their supervision, of course. And help, particularly from the salarians. They won’t offer a formal apology for the genophage and never will, but surprisingly, they were willing to help us. They never gave their reasons of course, but I've thought of it as their way of atonement. Or by knowing how it is done, they could undo it, giving them control should the krogan rebel again. You can never tell with a salarian.”

“Is there going to be a problem between your species and theirs?” he asked, worried about a possible conflict and planning ways to head it off.

She snorted. “There’s always going to be a problem between species, not just ours and the salarians.”

Scott was puzzled. “I…don’t understand.”

She gazed thoughtfully at him. “You really know nothing do you?” she said softly. Scott was about to ask her to elaborate but she waved it away. “I think you need to see it and believe it,” she said. “We've talked enough, I think. People are going hungry the longer we keep chatting. So, back to more important business. I have your ship stocked, fueled and ready to go. It’s at the docking bay. I was also told you needed some people. I can recommend some to man your ship.” She handed over a datapad. 

Scott looked at the list. He read bios on a salarian pilot and engineer, a woman xenogeologist and a human engineer. They look capable enough. Then he came to the end of the list.  “A turian smuggler?”

“Try not to say that out loud. A good smuggler isn’t a known smuggler. I don’t know what you’ll face down there, but you’ll need someone who can get you what you need before you even think of needing it. By unexpected ways and unexpected places, if need be. We've worked together before so I’ll vouch for her.”

Scott looked at the list again, his eyes skimming over their designations. They lack so many personnel that he had to make do with a crew that serve double functions. He had nothing more to ask from Kesh so he rose to say goodbye. “Thank you for your time, Kesh.”

She nodded. “We krogans don't believe on luck, but I'll say it anyway. Good luck out there. You'll need all the help you can get."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention that Sloane here is a few years old than Kaidan, not as old as the original Sloane.


	8. Chapter 8

After the doors on Kesh's office closed, they decided to check out the ship the Nexus reserved for them. They were walking towards the tram station, descending at the flight of stairs when suddenly, Scott felt a sharp pain in his head. He yelped and put his hand on his temple.

“Scott? You okay?” Cora asked, stopping mid step.

“Headache,” he muttered, massaging his temple. He dug his fingers in, trying to alleviate the pain in his head but it seemed to ran deeper than an ordinary headache. 

Was he having a stroke? 

 He looked down at his hand and flexed it. No, then. He's still standing and his vision's normal so a migraine perhaps?

“Maybe you still haven't got over Habitat 7," Marcus suggested. Scott isn't sure if he meant Alec's death or any of the things that happened earlier. A lot happened at Habitat 7. Or maybe that was his point.

"We should have Dr Lexi have a look at you.” 

Scott was about to reply that it was a good idea, when  SAM suddenly spoke. “Scott. Please see me on the Hyperion. Your implant need attention.” Then he heard him in a private channel. “There is also a confidential matter we need to discuss.”

Scott frowned at the secrecy. He looked at his companions but they just look worried.

"Wrong doctor," Marcus said with a grin and shrugged. "Well then. Lets walk you there."

“I’m alright,” he assured them. “I can walk myself there. Go ahead to our ship and check if we’re ready to go. I’ll follow you later.”

"Are you sure?" Cora asked.

"Yep."

Cora gave him an amused look then continued walking towards the tram. Scott swore he heard her mutter "men."

But he really is fine. The pain subsided and his face stopped grimacing as they proceeded to the tram station. They stepped into the tram and Marcus tapped separate buttons for both of them. The Tram moved forward and stopped at the deck nearest the Hyperion dock. The door opened and Scott stepped out alone. He waved goodbye at them until the door closed and his companions went ahead to the docking bay.  With them gone, he walked leisurely to the SAM node. He passed people by the corridors either busy repairing bust circuits or welding the tears in the wall, putting the place back into order. They seemed less stressed now since they can use the station features courtesy of the Hyperion's energy reserves it now shared with the Nexus. He smiled to himself. There's still a lot to do and they've been though a lot but they will pull through. 

* * *

SAM waited patiently for Scott to arrive at its node, its spherical projection made of lights swirling lazily like fat fireflies as the only illumination of the room. Then the door opened and Scott walked in. It did not speak until the door closed behind him. The room went dark, bathing Scott in the blue light of its holo, before it spoke. “Hello, Scott. Welcome back to SAM node. I’ve adjusted your connection to the implant. The headaches should not reoccur.”

“Thanks. You asked to talk to me in private?”

“You should know certain facts before you leave for your expedition. It seemed best that we speak alone.”

It saw Scott's face change. It read the positions of the muscles of his face and the activity of his brain and concluded that what he was feeling was intrigue. “Why?” he asked. 

“It was your father’s last wish.”

It saw his brow rose and then he crossed his arms. _Defensive_. “And what does he want to keep secret?”

“My true capabilities," SAM revealed. "Alec overrode the implants safety protocols. It allows me unrestricted access to Pathfinder physiology.”

Scott stared at him, then his lips parted slightly, remaining silent. “How?” he asked sharply, his brow starting to furrow while his eyes narrowed.

SAM detected from him an increased heart rate, increasing muscle tension and active sweat glands. But there was a conscious control of breathing that should have increased too. Curiously, there were also an increasing blood pressure and cortisol levels.

“The implant provides me direct access to your senses. I can see, hear, and hear the same stimuli you do when in the field. The data enables me to provide real-time feedback and analysis of the situation.”

He continued to stare at it and it read his heart was still beating fast. It also read elevated levels of cortisol and slight increase in temperature.

"So...you're not just a simple AI?" 

"I am a new form of AI, drawing directly from the human experience. Your implant and experience are my window to the world."

"Why would my father design an AI learning from human experience?" he asked, his tone brittle.

"I do not know. He has placed blocks on my memory array, to be unblocked after a set time. I only know that my programming is currently set to assist you and fulfill the Initiative's goals."

"Does anyone know about this?" Scott asked irritably. "That there's an AI in full control of someone running around? The Initiative? Or even the Pathfinding team? Cora, Marcus?"

"No. Just him and me. And now you." SAM paused. Its lights swirled faster, as if reflecting his feelings.

"I remember that Dr. Lexi said my mind and you are connected so much that you can't be disconnected from me without killing me," Scott asked, the tone becoming sharp again.

"Correct. The transfer was not supposed to happen like it did but your father's death and the circumstances around it have forced my transfer to you," SAM answered and saw Scott close his eyes. He put his hands on his hips. He stood still like this for a few seconds, then he opened his eyes, shook his head and sighed. 

“Don't be afraid,” the AI consoled Scott with as much emotion as its electronic voice can give. “I will not harm you; it would end badly for both of us. Also, Alec taught me about trust, which is an important concept in any relationshi-“

“Oh really?" Scott snapped and glared at SAM. "So he thought I’d just roll along to be inserted with something that have a complete control of my body without my consent or my knowledge?” 

SAM paused. It began to be flooded with images of Alec uprooting his family despite Scott making friends finally at his new school, Alec saying sorry he's busy during family celebrations, news of Alec doing illegal research without informing his children about it, Alec deciding that all of them should move to Andromeda, Alec-

“Apologies," SAM answered, in its usual monotone. It was the only thing it can say but Scott’s hormone levels had not gone back to normal. Instead, he now put his hand again before his eyes and the other on his hip. “I only know he strongly believed that my relationship to my host is beneficial,” SAM added, hoping to calm him. It did not.

Scott stared silently at it again.

“Is this going to affect our working relationship?”

Scott looked away from it, clenching his jaw. “Honestly, I don’t know,” he answered after a long moment of silence, looking back to SAM. “And I can’t care, since I don’t have a choice right? It’s not like I can say no when I need you to stay alive because my  _father…_ my father thought it nice that I should completely depend on a machine in some goddamn project he can’t bother to tell me. His own son.”

SAM was silent, because it had not enough data to analyze this. It cannot draw from his mind right now, as his emotions are clouding all his memory and thinking centers to get a reliable analysis, and its attempt to explore his mind was met with an impulse it recognized as rage. Not rage against itself, but it seems to Alec.

Scott looked away, his lashes getting wet as he bit his lip. “I used to be comfortable in my own body. It was healthy and I’m happy with it because it was something I had control over. I could go and do whatever I wanted and no one can stop me. Now, I feel like a sick person and it was my father who made it happen. All for some tricks I wasn’t asked to take.”

SAM was about to answer but Scott cut it off. “We’ll talk later, SAM. I need to deal with this alone.” He turned away and walked fast towards the door. But he stopped before it and turned around where its holo was. “Or not, right? You’re always with me. You’ll always be with me,” he said. He shook his head and walked away, the door shutting close behind him.

Those words were supposed to be comforting, but there was no doubt, even to an AI like SAM, that they were spoken with despair.

* * *

Scott did not know where to go. He wandered on the corridors of Hyperion and did not notice the greetings of his fellow humans as he passed by. Everything seemed surreal. He felt an urge to punch something or weep. Or both. Or neither.

He should have seen this coming. Alec only cares about himself despite their feelings. His job, his projects and his prestige comes first. He cares so much he insisted on moving everyone to Andromeda even when he was happy in the Alliance and his sister was happy digging around in ruins.  Dragging them all with his obsession.

And now this. 

Then he saw the familiar door of the med bay and knew where his feet had taken him.

He went inside and walked to the one who had drawn him.

“Sara,” he said softly, looking fondly at her sleeping form. He took a chair and sat near her, listening to her soft breathing. If there was someone who knew him best, it was her.

It’s different, having a twin. He knew Sara even before he knew his mother. He did not cry so much if their mother left him alone because he had Sara. And Sara had him. He didn’t feel fear exploring the world because he had her. And they did not mind much when their father’s career took them from school to school, or their mother spent less time with them due to her research.

But that was before puberty happened and they were told, explicitly and implicitly, that they had to separate. That they should form their own life and have different circles of their own peers. It was time anyway. Sara had gifts he struggled to match and he did not think it right that he hold her back just because he can’t keep up with her. He was happy for her when she was given a lot of awards due to her scientific discoveries and graduated top of their class in every level. And when she was going far away into the stars as a member of an intergalactic Prothean archaeology team, farther than he could ever be in the military, he did not begrudge her.

And yet, even with the years where they lived separately, the feeling of them having each other's backs still remained.

And now she was going to be replaced with…with _it._

Dr. Carlyle walked into the med bay, his head buried in a datapad in his hand. He looked up from his reading and saw Scott, bowed, his head atop his hands where his sister's hands were clasped between them. 

“Scott?” Dr Carlyle called. He put away his datapad and walked toward him. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” Scot said and rose to his feet. “Just wanted to see how my sister’s doing and say goodbye. I’ll be going on an expedition soon.”

Dr Carlyle nodded sympathetically. “Of course. Your sister’s condition is still stable, but unfortunately we still can’t get her out of coma. We’ll let you know as soon as possible if her condition changes.”

“Thanks, Doc.” He turned back to Sara and smiled. “I’m going away now. I don’t know how much time it’ll take but I promise, I’ll be back.”

He nodded at Dr Carlyle then went out the door to go and fulfill his mission.

* * *

Marcus and Cora was satisfied with how the ship was stocked and had nearly done their flight checks with the pilot when Scott arrived. They started to smile, but stopped when they saw him unusually subdued. They did not call attention to it, thinking to give him space as he mourned about his father and kept on as if they never noticed it.

They were all at the cargo bay inspecting the land rover with the Tempest engineer and the procurer when he entered. They dropped what they were doing and stood to face him. He stood in front of them and cleared his throat.  “I’m Scott Ryder, the son of Alec Ryder, the previous Pathfinder,” he said to the assembled crowd. “You should be meeting him but unfortunately my father and some of our team were killed in action at Habitat 7 to save the Hyperion. We greatly mourn their deaths, but still, we must continue our mission. We will honor them by continuing the goal they had lost their lives for. We will find us a home here in Andromeda.” He paused. “In behalf of my father, I assume the role of Pathfinder, but I cannot do this alone. I need your help, and I will be greatly honored to receive it.”

“The honor is ours, Pathfinder,” a man with reddish hair said.

Scott nodded then the crowd broke up for introductions.

“Hello, Scott. Good to see you’re well,” Dr. Lexi said, coming forward.

Scott smiled at the familiar face and felt relief at seeing the person who had been there during the tough times coming with them. “Same to you, Doctor. Glad you’re coming too.”

“As do I. This is going to be an interesting adventure.” Scott smiled and nodded goodbye at her to meet the next member of his crew.

“Hello,” the man who answered him earlier greeted. “I’m Gil Brodie. I’m supposed to be your ship’s engineer,” he said and shook his hand. Scott looked up from his hand to a tanned face with reddish brown hair going light at the tips as if kissed by the sun. Underneath a well-shaped brow were eyes of warm brown looking at him with genuine sympathy behind tinted lashes. “I’m sorry about your team. They were the best we have and now I’m just going to wing engineering alone.”

“Is that going to be a problem?”

Gil chuckled woefully. “Only if I’m dead. You’ve got no one else to keep the ship working, unless you pull Kallo out. He's the pilot. You'll meet him later. I’ve requested for additional personnel, but the brass says they’ve got no one else to spare so,” he spread his arms and cheerfully said, “you’re stuck with me.”

Scott smiled. He liked his upbeat attitude. “I think we’re going to be fine, Gil.”

“Ah. Well, if you say so, Pathfinder,” he answered with a twinkle in his eye.

A tall turian nodded at him and held her hand for him to shake. “Vetra. Vetra Nyx,” she said. "Initiative wrangler, provisioner, gunner, and everything in between”.

“Nice to meet you,” Scott said. He asked her a little about herself and as she answered, he looked her over.

She stood straight and tall among them all, her height projecting an aura of order rather than danger. Her replies were short and straight to the point and she looked at him clearly and directly in the eyes from behind a visor as she answered.

She doesn’t look like the image he had on his head. He expected a rogue-ish sort of person, but she's the opposite of that. Maybe because she is a turian, and the turians he met he found to be mostly law abiding, some even to the point of obsession. He knew military life is second nature to turians, being a sort of their class system where their rights depended on their rank. They were orderly and self-sacrificing. _Service before self_ was their motto and so there was not much leeway in individual self-expression.

He was being unfair to her. She, an alien, can hardly fit the image of a rogue thought of by a human.

“Kesh spoke about you,” Scott remarked.

She chuckled, which made her low voice sound even better by the flanging. “Yes. We go way back-back when the Initiative is being built actually.  She’s part of the construction team and I was mostly the procurer for her supplies. I’ve also been involved with the outfitting of this ship.”

“I’m grateful. So you knew this ship more than anyone, then? Tell me about the Tempest.”

She smiled. "I’m afraid I’m second only to the engineers, but I’ll do my best. I can talk about it but it’d be better if I show you while I do it.” She gestured for him to follow her. “Everything's state of the art," she explained as she led him further in. “Labs sensors, exploration gear.” They entered the elevator and arrived at the second floor. She led him onto a room and opened the door, revealing Engineering. The engine core is based on the ODSY drive. Ask Gil if you want to know more about it, because I know nothing  except how expensive it is,” she said, as blue light from the drive core shone on them. He smiled at her quip and she led him to the next room at the back of the elevator. The doors opened to a more spacious deck, with a series of consoles arranged in a circle in the middle of the room.

“This is the research room,” she said, gesturing to their surroundings. “It’s mostly for doing research and gathering intel.” Scott smirked at the turian layout of the ship, where the CIC is at the back and not on the bridge like in human ships.

“Router engaged. Securing connection to the Tempest,” SAM spoke.

He looked over his shoulder and saw two stairs curving up to a deck above them.

“That’d be the conference room,” Vetra said, following his gaze. “Aside from the usual furnishings, it also has equipment for long distance vid conference.”

"So I could report immediately to the bosses. Yay."

Vetra smiled. "Of course. We're hardly here to play after all."

"You're not helping my mood. I hope you stocked some drinks up there to make up for that."

"Surrendering already?" she teased. "I'll have to apologize. I hadn't thought of that. But I installed something better. A hang-up button."

"You know, you're my favorite already."

She chuckled. "Try not to let the others hear that. They'd just keel over with envy."

She led him onto the next room, crossing a glass walkway as they did so. "Your quarters are below as well as the crew’s cabins and the med-bay,” she said, nodding at the rooms below them. “There's plenty of space to get everyone up here together."

They reached the other side of the room and the door opened, revealing the helm. There were two rooms on each side, leading to the escape pods. There were two people, a woman and a salarian, seated on the front with a space between them. They rose up as soon as they entered. Vetra gestured for him to move forward to the front. When he stood there, a screen sprang up before him, showing the cluster.

“This is the bridge. I’d better let the pilots explain,” Vetra said and turned to the salarian on the right.

 “I’m Kallo Jath,” the salarian said, extending a hand to shake as he looked at him with his big liquid dark eyes on a red and white face. He thought it best to adopt human customs on a ship filled with humans since he figured the hassles were less. He had enough of accusations of being cold-blooded, which is an inaccurate insult, since, even though he is of amphibious origin, he’s actually warm-blooded.

“Nice to meet you, Kallo,” Scott said, shaking his hand.

“I am truly sorry for the loss of your father and your team mates. I’m told your team were great pilots but I hope my skills will be enough.”

“So you’re our new pilot, then,” Scott remarked at the salarian towering over him.

“Yes. I was part of the team that built the Tempest so I’m supposed to be just the assistant to the chief engineer. But it happens that I also have flight training and I knew the Tempest better than most so Captain Dunn decided to make me your new pilot.”

“Who’s your co-pilot?”

“That would be me,” the red-haired woman beside Kallo said with a strong Scottish accent. Her green-grey?- eyes were striking on her tan skin. “My name is Suvi Anwar. I’m the science officer with a specialization on xenogeology but like Kallo, I have been flight trained. Captian Dunn assigned me to be Kallo’s co-pilot.”

“Nice to meet you, Suvi. Are you two going well with each other?”

“Suvi and I work great together, Pathfinder," Kallo assured him. "I have no complaints regarding her skills. I assure you that there would be no problem from us." Then he pointed to the screen in front of him. “That is a navigational system synced specifically for you.” Scott played a little with it, testing its features.

"She's light, she's stealthy, and she's the fastest ship in her class. All yours," Vetra finished.

Marcus and Cora followed behind them and saw Scott officially taking command of the ship, and thus, his role as the Pathfinder. “So, Pathfinder,” Marcus said, grinning to see him grinning. “Where are we going?”

Scott stood on the platform between them and hovered his hand forward. A holo sprang in front of him, showing him the map of the world where they could go. As each world glowed under his touch, a memory of his father doing the same thing on this same platform sprang on his mind. It was surreal, almost as if his father’s ghost was holding his hand, guiding him. He missed those times that Alec actually was, and even if he knew this was just his imagination, he felt just as comforted. Then he remembered what he had done and he banished that feeling quickly from his mind.

He found Eos and then they were gone.


	9. Chapter 9

Eos is a desert planet, with red soil and an orange sky. It is also boiling hot due to its mostly carbon dioxide atmosphere and close proximity to its red star.

The Tempest dropped them down at one of the failed outpost, Site 1. After investigating the site, securing data left behind and identifying the bodies for later burial, they moved on to their mission. Scott drove them in the land rover named the Nomad to the location of the alien structure, kicking up dust behind them. They passed by giant pillars of rock, weathered but standing tall and stark against the mirage shimmering on the horizon. 

The wind blew softly, sending sand floating through the arms of a giant, blue coral-like plant. Green bugs skittered from shadow to shadow, then buried themselves on the sand. “Good to see something is still living here, because nothing on Eos looks good,” Scott remarked.

“It looked better before," Cora said from the back, reading on her omnitool the studies they collected from the failed outpost. "Or at least, that's what the science team at the outpost found. According to them, Eos used to have oxygen. It also has water. It's not as plenty as Earth, but there were lakes and rivers big enough for life to thrive. They have samples of giant moss and ferns. All dead and dried out, of course."

“Did they found out what caused its climate to change?” 

"No. They just said that hundred of years ago, carbon dioxide suddenly increased in concentration. This resulted to surface temperatures rising and water evaporating until it became the planet we have now."

Yes, another dead planet, Scott thought. And this is supposed to be our home? He looked over at the barrenness of the landscape and worried how they could live here. Since their arrival at Andromeda, there was no shortage of trouble. Half of their team dead, their leaders dead and the rest are on the way to joining them if he cannot make this rock habitable soon enough. The fact that they were all counting on him was daunting on its own, but the fact that he never asked this in the first place was increasing his resentment. 

The Nomad bounced, bringing him out of his thoughts. He need to focus on the present and so he banished those feelings for now and concentrated on the road ahead. 

At the back, Cora finished reading the report on Eos and tapped at her omnitool to check for the location of the monolith. As she did, the Nomad hit another pothole and she winced. Then her scanner beeped and she called their attention. “I think it’s at the left, near the cliffs.”

The Nomad swerved, sending a cloud of sand into the air. It sped up until they arrived just at the base massive structure jutting out from the ground whereupon it stopped abruptly. There was a silenced sound of cursing before the doors opened.

Marcus got out first, wincing and rubbing his shoulder where the belt ate into it. “Awesome driving, Ryder,” he said to Scott. “You managed to hit every rock here in Eos.”

They swept the area. The structure was dark-colored as the ones they saw back at Habitat 7 but it seems to have no opening. There were three main parts. One looked roughly like an isosceles triangle, with fins at the hypotenuse, running up and into the sky and where its endpoint was overlooking the other structure. The other one was composed of three pillars situated in points of a perfect triangle and whose ends nearly meet at a space above the center, overlooking the central hub. There were also octagonal shapes, some standing up and spread out in a pattern they could not discern or embedded in the ground like a mosaic.

Between the pillars was an octagon shaped floors. Each was shorter as it went inward and stacked. At the center stood a console similar to the one Alec has used back at Habitat 7. The floor and the walls glowed green with something which looked like wiring and the strange letters.

Nothing popped out from the dunes or pillars so they put their guns away. They scanned the structures, but their scanners were telling them nothing.

“It looks inactive,” Marcus observed. Scott approached the console and stood before it.

He remembered that his father worked on one to activate the structure. Maybe it would do the same thing here. He held his hand just above the surface of the console, mimicking what his father did at Habitat 7. Its surface rippled and then octagon buttons rose up to meet his hand.  He was about to ask SAM what to do next when a shadow appeared over his hand-

 “Look out!” Cora yelled. He spun quickly, reaching for his gun but too late, a figure dropped on him from above. His back slammed hard against the floor and a sharp pain exploded on the back of his head as his helmet made contact with the hard floor. He winced, and when his vision cleared up, he saw an asari girl sitting on top of his chest, her face close to his.  Too close.

“How did you do that?” she chirped. ‘I’ve spent months trying to activate that thing and-“

“Get off him,” Cora barked, shoving her gun’s muzzle in her face. The asari turned to her, putting her hand up and rose slowly off him. Cora gestured at her to back away and keep her distance so Marcus can lend a hand to let him up. Scott accepted the hand and winced when he was pulled to his feet.  He looked at his attacker.

She seemed to be an asari on her maiden stage, wearing a worn, puffy jacket the color of the desert and a hood pulled back from her head. Tight, dark pants and scuffed hiking boots completed the look. She was holding up her hands, which were covered by tattered gloves. Her baby blue face peeked from her hood, the pinkish purple across her cheek stretching as she said petulantly, “I didn’t mean any harm. I was just excited because no one has activated that console before.”

His head still hurt so he hunched and put his hand on his hips as he talked to her. “Sorry. Who are you and how did you get the drop on us?” he panted.

“Oh that, I’m K!” she said, extending a hand, which they just stared at suspiciously. A second passed then she took it back. “I’m part of the team from Site 2 Resilience. I’ve been here for weeks studying that console and avoiding the kett wandering in the site, generally,” she said nervously. She put her hands behind her back. “As for your second question, I was up there,” she pointed at one of the overhanging structure, “I thought you were the aliens and so I hid. When I heard you talk then when the console reacted to you-“she pointed at Scott, “ I couldn’t contain my excitement. I had to go down and ask you how you did it!”

She said she was a scientist, but she seemed more like an overexcited gerbil. “How do we know who you say you are?” Scott asked her, still winded.

“Oh, that! I have an ID. Here,” She opened her omnitool and tapped on it. Their omnitool beeped to alert them that it has received her credentials. 

“Kannathea D’yseris,” Scott read. "Tech researcher."

“I go by K. Kannathea is too long, you know?”

Scott looked up to stare at her and agreed. By the way she fidgets as she stood there, it really was too long for her. “Ok…K. I’m Scott Ryder, human Pathfinder. This is Cora Harper and Marcus Zola," he said pointing at his companions with his thumb.

“Nice to meet you,” she said and shook their hands rapidly, almost grabbing their hand. “So, can you get on with the console now?” she asked Scott.

"Hold on," Cora interrupted. "We've never met anyone who survived from the two outposts. Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, yes," she said, annoyed, waving her hand rapidly at her. "I'm fine. Now can we get on with working on the rem-tech?"

 Scott looked at Cora who mouthed _fine_ at her with an equally annoyed expression. He turned back to K. “Rem-tech?”

“Short for Remnant tech. It's what we call these for now,” she said, waving at the structures.

"What can you tell us about it? Like how it works and what it's for?"

“Eh, there's nothing much I can tell you. For months, we haven’t been able to crack this console. But it's reacting to you so," her face turned eager at him, "how did you do it?”

He exchanged a look with Cora and Marcus. "Well, it was not actually me who's doing it. It was SAM. SAM did most of the work back at Habitat 7."

"SAM? Habitat 7?"

"Hello, K," SAM greeted. 

She snapped her head up and looked around for the source of the voice. "That's an AI isn't it?" she asked suddenly.

They looked at each other then at her. "How'd you figure that out?" Scott asked.

"Simple. I'm a tech researcher. I work with machines for most of my life. I am pretty sure I could tell an AI apart from a VI. A VI would never initiate an action independent of its controller."

"Correct. I am an AI," SAM said. "I was designed by the Andromeda Initiative to assist the Pathfinders in finding new homes for the colonists."

They were worried how'd she react. Artificial Intelligence was illegal back in the Milky Way and they feared she might be carrying the same attitude of those who banned it. But she only said, "That's fair. You'll need help trying to colonize this rock" and asked about Habitat 7.

They told her what happened at the planet. After they finished, K fell silent, thinking, then she looked at Scott with a somewhat manic expression. "If what you say is true, then something about SAM is making these structures react. We've run VIs on this console and we've never had success like yours."

This kept getting stranger and stranger. Scott assumed that it was SAM's advanced processing that was making the consoles work but now that she told them it wasn't...

Scott turned to the console and looked back uncertainly at her.

“Well? Go on,” she urged, flipping her hand rapidly at it.

“So, like this?” he said, hovering his hand above the console. Suddenly, bots appeared from thin air. Some of them remind them of a black colored jellyfish, with a tail running below them as they levitated off the ground. They seem to have one optical sensor, which they used to scan at the ground. One looks like a mechanical crab, with pinchers at front and levitating while one type hops on the ground on two legs, with the same type of head as the other.

“Remnant bots. Kill them fast, they respawn,” K said as she ducked behind cover and the bots started shooting lasers at them.  The three scrambled to find cover and started shooting.

“Did you know they will appear?” Scott shouted at her. He looked around his cover and managed to nail one of the hoppers mid-hop. It went sprawling on the hard, dark floor.

“Sometimes! They always reappear at intervals,” she shouted back. She swept her hand up and a hopper went floating in the air.

"Could you have told us that earlier?" he shouted, firing on one advancing on their flank.

"Sorry. It slipped my mind!"

The one with a laser eye was protected by a shield so Scott shot at it with an electric bolt. It fried up, twitching in the air as Scott pumped it full of bullets until it crashed. A shot zipped past him and he ducked back into cover. The hopper jumped over the blocks to chase him when suddenly, it was floating in the air. Then something flashed and it burst into pieces, Cora setting back down gently. The one near the pillars swiveled to shoot her when Marcus appeared behind it and buried both his omni-blades in its back, sawing it in half. Two more bullets in its face and it stopped twitching. 

“I don’t know how they work or how to turn them off,” K panted. "But shooting at them always stops them."

 Marcus chuckled. "Almost everything does when you shoot at it long enough," he said.

Scott smiled at his quip and resumed working on the console. “SAM?”

“One moment,” it answered. “I cannot interact with it. It appears that you need to manually input a specific set of glyphs.”

 “Glyphs? Where would we find that?”

“There are glyphs at the walls all around you. Scan the walls and I will run its probabilities of being the right glyph against the console.”

Scott went around and scanned all the glyphs they found. Then he went back to the console and tried again.

“I have identified the necessary glyphs and set it. To activate the console, a puzzle using the glyphs need to be solved. It is composed of a three by three grid, with each grid containing a three by three box. The glyphs are scattered on each box where each glyph do not repeat by either row, column or grid. This is the puzzle.”

SAM showed it to Scott internally.

“You’re kidding me,” Scott said as soon as he saw it. “You mean to tell me that the key to a mysterious, advanced alien structure is Sudoku?”

“Oooooooh!” K said, nearly jumping as she clapped her hands. “Think about it Ryder! We may have moved to a new galaxy, but we aren’t sure if the rules we have still apply here. The laws of physics still does, but what you did now confirms that the rules of logic are also being followed by inhabitants here! I’m so happy to be here even though I spent months of work without success. I don’t even mind that you’ve made the first discovery.”

“I’m feeling very honored about it, believe me,” Scott said dryly. “So, these glyphs. They are...numbers, not letters?”

“Unknown," SAM replied. "However, the arrangement of the glyphs appears to complete either a password or a code phrase within the grid as a whole. From the little I understand of it, they appear to form an almost palindromic "Sator Square" sentence, but the finer meaning would require detailed explanation from the grid's designer.” 

“Well, they’re not here now,” Cora remarked. 

“I have the solution to the puzzle. It is-“

“I got it SAM. I think I can handle a simple Sudoku puzzle,” he said. Just because he has an AI in his head meant that he can now afford to be dumb.

Scott took a few minutes, even longer due to the pressure of Marcus silently criticizing him for not using the easy way out and K’s palpable excitement. Finally, he put the solution in and SAM confirmed it to be the right one before running it through. A sound from somewhere deep sounded then the tip of the larger pillar went bright. A ray of light emanated and pointed somewhere past the mountains.

They stared at it then Scott said, "Huh. Anyone taking my bet that that's where we're going next?"

* * *

"C'mon, let me come with you!" K said, tripping behind them as they walked towards the Nomad. Scott reached the driver's side and opened the door. "Sure. get in and we'll drop you off Site 1. We'll fetch you later after we're done dealing with the monoliths."

She held the door open as Scott was about to go inside. "No, I meant let me come with you following the monoliths."

Scott shook his head sadly. "It's dangerous. You saw what happened when we activate the monoliths. Besides, we can't protect you all the time." They can't afford to have even one of them distracted by protecting a civilian while going through their mission.

She just laughed. "I've been through worst. You think those bots can kill me? Besides, you saw I'm not a slacker at fighting. I'm pretty sure I can hold my own if we come under fire."

Scott was silent, weighing her arguments so she begged, "Please. This is what I came for Andromeda for. To discover things. And now that I found something just beyond my wildest imaginations, you're not letting me."

"We aren't sight-seeing. We'll take you there as soon as it's safe, I promise."

"It'd be too late for that. What if there's something you need an expert for but you had to pass it quickly and so you can't go back there? Someone like me? Look, I know it's dangerous but I never pretended that discovery does not involve danger. I'm not that naive. And I can take care of myself."

Scott eyed her. He doesn't want her to go and endanger herself with them but he knew she would follow them anyway. So he shrugged, smiled and said, "Get in then," which she did with a whoop of joy. She sat at the back and saw Cora beside her. "Hi," she said giddily at her.

"Hello," Cora replied, her smile strained. Then she looked ahead and her eyes connected with Scott's though the mirror. Scott caught it, and shrugged. And then they were off. 

They followed the light until they arrived at another monolith. After activating it, the same thing happened and the monolith pointed a path to them. They followed it again and found another monolith. Unfortunately, there’s the hostile alien base at the bottom, its bulbous body built around the structure. The entrance to their destination can only be reached though the central room which is protected by a force field so they had to wade through its defenses and stop the generators on the walk ways. As usual, the aliens refused to talk and preferred to fire at them. They reduced the generators to slag heaps and entered the main room. They were mopping up there when they heard rumbling and shouts somewhere around them. They took positions and watched alertly for the source of the commotion.

Glass broke and fell all around them, followed by an alien dog. It landed wetly in front of them. They looked up to where it came from and saw a krogan on a deck above them. The krogan made a rumbling laugh, then jumped and landed just beside the alien, the floor shaking with his weight. They scrambled from cover and surrounded him. His golden reptilian eyes glared at them, examining them from head to foot then he growled, “Who are you?”

“Could ask the same,” Scott said, his rifle trained on the krogan. The krogan had brown but dull looking skin, almost greyish. His dusty, nicked yellow armor was decorated with bones with a pair framing his face. He had white spikes protruding from his chin and he looked old. But his eyes were still sharp as he looked at them, weighing them. Then he noticed the logo on their armor, a stylized A and I.

“Initiative,” he sniffed.

“Yes. Exile?” Scott asked him in return.

He snorted. “Sort of. Still haven’t told who you are,” he said with a jab of his finger.

“We're not obligated to tell you anything,” Cora said, her shotgun trained at him.

The krogan looked at her and gave a guttural laugh. “I like you,” he said in a low rumbling voice, pointing at her. “You’re brave for such a squishy species.” It seems Cora amused him enough that he sobered. “I’m Drack from clan Nakmor.”

“Nakmor?" Scott asked, surprised. "Are you related to Nakmor Kesh?” 

“Ah. I see you’ve met my grand-daughter. Yes, we’re family. Now, mind telling me your names?”

They lowered their guns. “I’m Scott Ryder. The human Pathfinder,” Scott said and introduced his team. “This is Marcus Zola, Cora Harper and K.”

He nodded. “Good. I’ll remember your names when you die out here like everyone else did,” he said. Then he turned his back to them, lumbering to the alien animal without worry at their guns still drawn at him.

“Oh, come on. We’re not that weak,” Marcus protested.

“Sure,” the krogan said, without turning around to face him. He drew out a knife, ignoring the gasps behind him and sawed away at the fang of the animal. “"The Nexus knows shit about these aliens. They think they're safe, but they're just waiting to die out there in space."  

“You’ve been a lot of fights then?” Scott asked, an idea forming in his head, as he stooped near the krogan.

"I've been quads deep on a couple o' planets for a while now. Taking out these bases. Fighting ground troops. I know what they can do."

 “Look, we’re pretty new around here,” Scott said carefully. “We could use a veteran like you.”

Drack stopped his work, and turned around to eye him. Then he laughed again. "I'm flattered, but do you have any idea how many humans I've watched die? You're meat. You spoil. Besides, the day I help the Nexus again is the day the clouds part and these aliens keel over."

“Alright then," Scott said, rising up. "We won’t be bothering you,” he signaled his team to be on their way.

The krogan was still looking merrily at them. “Tell you what, kid. I’ve been looking for a squad of mine who got lost some time ago.  They’re a bunch of youngsters from my clan. If you give me some news of them, then maybe I’ll help you.”

* * *

They activated the monolith which gave forth light, joining the others, intersecting and pointed a way beyond the hills. They followed it and climbed on top, where they saw it was pointing at a lake where a tiny island appeared in the middle.

They stood looking at it for a few moments, then K said, “Well, then, I think it’s back to the Beep-Beep.”

Scott looked puzzled at her. “The what now?”

“The Beep-Beep. You know, the one we arrived in,” she said, pointing at the Nomad.

Scott started chuckling. “It’s called the Nomad, not Beep-beep.”

“But Beep-beep fit it better! It’s short for _Beep-beep! We’re coming through_ , especially if it’s you who’s driving, Ryder.”

Marcus started laughing. “I agree. Your driving is a menace. It’s single-handedly wiping out the local fauna.”

“Keep that up and I won’t allow anyone to drive the Beep-beep,” Scott threatened.

“You're cruel, you know that?"

Scott smirked at the reaction of the petrol-head. “Alright, stop fooling around. Let’s go see where this light is leading us.”


	10. Chapter 10

They arrived at the place where the lights of the monoliths intersect.  It pointed to the middle of the lake and so they stood at the beach looking puzzled at it. Then suddenly, a structure rose out of the surface. Metallic liquid poured away from it, revealing something that looks like a shed. Its roof and the ceiling under it were shaped in octagons and built from the same dark material as the monoliths and the walls were open on every side.

Then cobblestones shaped like octagons rose out of the water and formed a bridge from the edge of the lake and to the island structure. They reached the island through the bridge and saw at the center of the floor, a passage leading onto a door shaped like a trapezoid, narrowing at the top.

Scott signaled for Cora to stay behind to watch their exit.  Cora nodded and took cover among the pillars while they approached the door. Scott went forward to examine it, saw no locks or handles to open it with.

There might be some hidden mechanism to open it, he thought. He ran his hands on the surface, searching for a catch, when SAM said, “I detect forced signs of entry.”

His hands went still. “Forced signs of entry?”

“Yes. There are paint marks on the walls and burns caused by mass accelerated weapons,” SAM said, looking through his eyes and at the door, analyzing the minute scratch marks and scorch residue.

He looked back to his companions. “So…we’re not the first ones here?”

“That’s interesting,” K said. “This means whoever they are have gone past the monoliths which, we know for one, cannot be activated without help from an AI.”

“But they haven’t fixed the planet,” Marcus pointed out.

“So they must still be in there,” Scott finished.

“Maybe,” K said. She walked over to the door and looked up at it. “This is getting fun,” she murmured. “Now how to open the door…”

“Scott, if you could move closer to the door I can try to override the lock,” SAM said.

“You’re a genius, SAM,” K said as Scott held his omni-tool before the door so SAM could work on it. “How are you unlocking it?”

“This door is using the same encryption as the monoliths. Using the glyphs from the monoliths, I am currently testing combinations that will unlock the door.”

"So you're guessing?" Marcus asked.

"In a manner of speaking."

Scott’s omni-tool glowed and the door opened.

“Great job, SAM,” Scott remarked, as they gazed into the dark maw of the vault.

“I did nothing. I have not yet finished entering my solution when we were interrupted.”

“That’s weird,” K remarked, frowning. “So why did it open then?”

“Unknown.”

Scott shrugged and said, “Well, the door’s open so let’s go.” He nodded at Marcus and took point for them.

The door opened into a passage leading down into a cool underground. The chamber was dark and illuminated the same way with the monoliths above. They flipped on their lights and saw they were in a vast cavern glowing in soft green along the floor and walls. But it was empty.

"Hmm, that’s surprising," K remarked, walking around the room with her scanner. "After all those trekking, I didn’t expect this would be so empty."

Scott looked around the empty room. "That can’t be right. The one at Habitat 7 had a console we needed to work on,” he said, his heart sinking. If this vault couldn’t help them, then they’re doomed.

“Really? Hmm,” K wondered. She stepped closer to the wall, staring at the glowing etchings. “Maybe not all the vaults have the same layout,” she suggested. “There must be some secret here. Maybe a secret entrance." She moved closer to the walls and poked at them, running her fingers on the lines. Scott watched her, then decided to follow her lead, crossing the steps forming a triangle in middle of the room to search the wall.

Something rumbled. Heavy, like the shifting of a stone wall. They stood still, staring at each other, when another rumble occurred. Scott felt the floor moving then he realized the rumbling was coming below him. He jumped back and scrambled to the top of the steps. He saw the triangle he was standing before slid open, revealing a gap in the center of the room leading down.

K looked open mouthed at the opening then at him. “You’re a genius!” she exclaimed.

“I..didn’t do anything,” Scott said, looking at the opening.

“You know, there’s a lot of things opening with someone saying they didn’t do nothing that I’m starting to think that it’s not coincidence anymore,” Marcus observed. “Like, it’s making it easier for us because some horrible monster is at the end of it.”

“You think this is a set-up?” Scott asked, smiling.

Marcus gestured all around them. “We’re in space in some alien vault. It wouldn’t surprise me if we ran into some sacrificial chamber down here.”

Scott chuckled and shook his head. “You’ve been watching too many movies.”

“Says the space marine. And people ask why they always die first,” Marcus answered with a mock sigh. He walked over to the edge and peered down below. "How far down d'ya think it goes?" Scott joined him and stood gingerly at the edge. He took out a half-spent thermal clip and dropped it in the hole. But instead of falling, it was suspended in the air. Then a blue shimmer encased it and only then did it descend below. Slowly.

"That can't be air pressure. Electrostatic?" K said, craning her neck down the shaft as safely as she could, "Ah! Gravitation. Maybe there’s a gravity well at the bottom."

They watched the clip slowly descend into the shaft. Finally, it stopped, glowing faintly in the dark.

“Huh. Either there’s a ground down there or it’s just floating,” Marcus suggested.

“Definitely not floating,” K said, peering down the shaft. “The light’s not moving. I think there’s a floor.”

The two looked at each other. “Hey, I can take point but if I see eggs down there, I’m noping out of here,” Marcus said. He gave a signal and He and Scott dropped one after the other. It was a long drop but they arrived intact. They arrived at a chamber just like the one above them. They went into defensive stance as soon as they landed and waited, sweeping the area. The place was silent and still; there were no hostiles waiting for them so they called K down to join them.

The chamber led to a long passage then into an enormous cavern. There were no walkways so they have to walk and jump on the blocks built into the cliffs. Sometimes, they have to use their jet pack to jump on top of the pillars made of octagons. Ferrofluid ran on gutters, illuminating the walls with blue light.  and there were octagon shapes standing here and there blocking their way. They were glad of that because remnant bots started appearing and attacking them. Some even appeared instantaneously and in midair, ready to grab them out of cover and into the lasers of their fellow bots.   

“Lots of Sexylegs,” K remarked at the bodies of the hopping Remnant bots they just defeated.

“Please don’t call it that,” Marcus said, glancing away from the bots. Their limbs do look like legs, only with thick thighs and slender calves.

Scott smirked at him. “What’s wrong, Marcus? Afraid you’ll shoot the wrong gun?” Then he and K started laughing while Marcus vowed that he’d get back at them later. Scott fiddled with as much consoles as he can. Some of them just make the same octagon shapes appear and disappear. Some made the octagon pillars rise from between chasms for them to jump to as bridges or steps to a ledge. There were also strangle little circles adorning the walls with wirings running from it, making the walls look like a giant circuit board. SAM said it detected a touch interface. They tried with their hands but it did not react so they let it alone.

“There is alien organic material on the surface of the console,” SAM said as Scott worked on the latest console. “It is a fresh sample. Therefore, they may have been here recently.”

“Maybe they’re our intruders. Is it the same DNA with the aliens we encountered at Habitat 7?”

“No. It is different.”

Marcus whistled low. “So, we’ve got another alien.”

“I certainly hope they’re friendly this time,” Scott remarked. “Maybe they own this place?”

“Hmm,” K said, running her own scanner over everything and anything she can reach. “Maybe but I'm sure they didn't live here. I’ve seen a lot of tech and I tell you, these aren’t meant for habitation or anything for organics. Also, I see traces of mineral build-ups here, in a pattern consistent with high pressure and high velocity. Like made by gases passing though a vent.”

“That is possible,” SAM said.

Scott gaped at her. “A vent? A vent for what?”

K shrugged. “No idea. But maybe we’ll know if we follow it in.”

Scott went still as he thought more on this. “If it’s not meant for organics, then why is there a door with a lock?”

“A question for the ages,” K replied and grinned at him. “Here’s the adventure you’re looking for.”

They stopped for a moment, letting K take scans of the strange wall. He would've run thought it, appreciating it only by its use towards accomplishing their objective, but he let K indulge her curiosity. Because as she chattered to herself while scanning, he was reminded of Sara, who does the same thing when she’s around very old structures. Raving about some dead civilization even at dinner time. Sara would have studied every inch of this structure like K is doing now. He doesn’t get the fascination of the past, he does understand how it is to care deeply about something.

Sara should have been here.

But she isn't here and so they must do what they could at the present. And at the present, he’s not the only one who cannot appreciate the strange wall, because Marcus was mouthing something, tapping impatiently at his omni-tool showing a big round clock.

“Alright, K. Time’s up. We really need to get going,” Scott said and herded her out of the room. They proceeded to the lower bowels of the structure. Some corridors lead to room where the robots were being assembled. Some were just an unending stretch of walls, with the strange holes in them. Some passages were barred and they had to solve sequences to open the doors so they could proceed.  As they passed through, Scott felt as if they had entered into a large factory. What the factory was it for, they don’t know. That did not reduce the feeling that they’re walking in a trap.

He led them deeper into the vault when he chanced to glance at the corner and saw some foot prints. It was hard to tell which race it belonged to as it was badly smudged. Then he saw something glowing just beside it.

He walked towards it and picked it up. Then he waved at the others. “Hey, take a look at this.”

Marcus and K came back and they all stared at the thermal clip he was holding aloft. “So…the intruders are maybe one of us,” Marcus said.

“Maybe it’s the missing Pathfinders?” Scott suggested.

K studied it for a bit longer. “Maybe. I don’t know,” she said finally. “If they are, they must crazy intelligent. You need SAM to activate the vault and as far as I know, none of them were equipped with one since the Nexus AI was badly damaged.”

“The aliens?” Marcus suggested.

“Those aliens use our thermal clips?”

Scott turned from her and looked once more at the footprints. “Huh. Let’s puzzle over it later.” He pocketed the thermal clip and huffed his rifle higher as they went inward. “This vault just keeps on giving, doesn’t it?” he asked as they jogged.

They arrived at a central chamber. “I think this is the end of it,” K said, looking around the room. It was illuminated by a large energy beam at the center of the room running up into a sort of chimney with walls made of stacked plates that kept undulating. Both four sides of the chamber had tunnels opening out and up, much like the tunnel they arrived in.

They walked around the chamber until they were sure that it was empty besides them. “So. No big bad monster here,” Scott said to Marcus.

“Yes. But where’s the people who went in before us?” he asked and stepped near the ledge to check at the chasm below.

“Maybe they got out before we came in,” K said.

“Wherever they are, they’re not our responsibility,” Scott said, with a nod at the console just beside the center of the room. Scott approached it and examined it.

“This one is similar to the console at Habitat 7,” SAM said. “This one seems to contain more functions than the consoles we passed by.”

“So..kind of the master control. Can this one fix the atmosphere?” he asked SAM.

“Unknown. Move your omni-tool closer so I can perform a test.”

He let his hand hover above it and SAM started working.

“I have found a command for climate manipulation,” SAM said after a while. “Should I run it?”

Scott looked at the other two who nodded. “Do it.”

“Initiating. Please stand by.”

They listened to the console whirring as it worked when he felt his body freeze. “SAM?” he asked in panic.

“We are being scanned. Standby.”

“Scott? What’s happening?” Marcus asked, his gun clacking as he drew it, looking worriedly at Scott who was standing too stiffly.

“I don’t know!” He tried to struggle but no matter what he did, his body won’t move. It seems like he was under paralysis except he can breathe and speak.

They heard a loud, low mechanical sound. The paralysis disappeared and Scott landed in a heap. Marcus immediately grabbed him and dragged him away from the console. 

“What the fuck was that?” Marcus asked as he helped Scott to his feet. They stared at the console which suddenly projected a hologram of a...planet.

“It is sending us a nav point. Uploading now,” SAM intoned. “The navpoint indicates a planet on a system at the other side of the cluster.”

“A planet?” Scott asked, frowning. Then an idea occurred to him. “Perhaps with a vault like this too?”

“That is possible. However, it does not tell anything more than the navpoint. A further study of this vault might reveal-"

The reason for SAM’s interruption was the sudden increase in intensity of the center beam’s light. It also has changed color.

 “Pathfinder. I’m detecting a large energy build-up below you. It’s coming closer,” SAM said, as the light changed from white to angry dark purple and blue.

“What does that mean?”

“Run.”

They started running back to the place they entered from. Scott happened to look back and saw a dark, sparking energy cloud emerge from the floors and filling the chamber. “I don’t like the look of that!”

“Keep going! It’s catching up!” Marcus yelled.

They jumped over the pillars, jumped over chasms, scrambled over ledges and ran without looking back. Some bots appeared before them but they only shot suppression fire at it, ducking at their shots and kept running. Finally, they arrived at the upper level just before the one leading up to the main door and found it locked. “Shit! We’re trapped!” Marcus shouted and started bashing it.

“Scott! There’s a console nearby. Maybe you can override it?” K suggested. 

 Scott looked at it and found it a little far from them, while the energy cloud was seeping in fast. There were no other options so he ran and hovered, no, almost pushed his hand down on it.

“C’mon, C’mon, c’mon”, he rattled off, looking at the energy cloud closing in on him.

It was too late. He ducked down as the cloud enveloped him, his shields dropping fast and warnings sounded inside his helmet.

“Scott!” He heard K yell. She created a biotic shield around her and Marcus just before the cloud enveloped them. It sizzled as it hit the barrier. But soon, K looked strained, as the cloud ate away her barrier while Marcus continued bashing at the door without success.

“Chamber sealing,” SAM intoned.  

Suddenly, the energy cloud started being suck back in. Scott held on at the console, but Marcus and K had not expected that and so got knocked off their feet. They started rolling back into the chamber, screaming. Scott held out a hand as Marcus passed by.

Marcus caught it and held out his hand for K. She passed by him, reached…then missed.

“K!” Scott yelled.

Marcus stretched out his leg. K managed to grab onto his boot, and they held on as all the energy cloud was sucked back in until the doors closed with a clang. They fell to the floor and lay there on the floor panting and gasping.

Then Marcus started laughing. He rolled over and put his hand over his face. Scott broke into a grin then K also started laughing.

“You alright?” Scott asked them.

“I’m fine. We’re fine,” Marcus said and stood up, shaking himself. “No face-hugging monsters here, but that was a close one.”

Their comms cackled and they heard Cora’s voice. “Scott? Marcus? K? Are you there?”

Scott pressed on his omnitool to answer her. “Yeah. We’re alive. We’ve activated the vault.”

“I thought so. The air was clearing up as soon as the monoliths started emitting light. Are you alright? Storm’s coming so we better move out fast.”

“Copy. We’re fine. We're coming out in a few minutes.”

“I’ll inform the Nexus that the mission is a success.” There was a pause. “Good job, Scott.”

Scott paused, remembering the time he overheard them talking about him being the Pathfinder. “Thanks,” he said, out of politeness. He didn't need anymore drama in his life. He's got more important things to worry about. “We’ll meet you at the exit. Ryder out.”

They trudged out the vault and emerged onto the island. Cora emerged from the pillars to meet them, relieved and glad that they made out of there alive. As she talked, Scott looked beyond her and saw that the monoliths have transformed into towers emitting a beam of light into the sky. Around each beam, a powerful storm swirled around it.

His omni-tool beeped. The air was already cold.


	11. Chapter 11

They arrived at the Nexus and were immediately directed to the conference room. The administration and the science team were already seated, eager to hear their success. Captain Dunn did not dawdle on formalities and as soon as they took their seats, asked for their report. Scott told them what happened at the vault. The administration and the science team listened attentively, until he reached the point where he was frozen in place by the console. The science team sat up and exchanged looks but kept silent until he was done.

“Thank you, Pathfinder,” Captain said when he finished and turned to the others. “Thoughts?” she asked, not missing the looks thrown around the table.

Professor Henrik leaned in and turned to Scott. “You said the vault scanned you?” he asked.

“Yes.”

Professor Henrik sat back and exchanged another look with his team. “Well, that certainly explains …things,” he muttered. Then he fixed his attention back to them. “Based on the report on Habitat 7, we expected the vault would just fix the atmosphere to be a more comfortable level. We didn’t expect it to tailor Eos according to our needs. Specifically, human needs.”

Captain Dunn looked piqued at him. “Go on,” she urged.

“Previously, Eos has a mostly carbon dioxide atmosphere but since the Pathfinder has turned on the vault, the climate is changing into a mixture of nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere. At the rate it’s going, we predict that it’d have roughly the same atmosphere as Earth in a week. However, its temperature range will be higher due to the proximity to its star, but it will be tolerable by human standards.”

“So you’re saying Eos can be colonized now without us spending too much effort to ensure basic living conditions,” Captain Dunn said.  “That’s good news to me but by the looks on your faces, it doesn’t sound good.”

“I’m sorry. We did not mean it that way. Of course it is wonderful news for our colonization project,” Chief Lucan said with a nod at Addison, “but our concern is more on its scientific implications. We just find it strange that the vault producing a nitrogen-oxygen air. We conducted tests on Eos soil before and the nitrogen content in it is negligible. It’s also putting out other gases to cool off the planet. Gases that are not present before.”

Captain Dunn just stared at him. “And this is important because…?”

The three scientists exchanged perplexed looks at each other. “It’s just a scientific problem,” Professor Aridana said eventually. “Nothing that greatly impacts our current thrusts. But back to the vault,” she said quickly and brightly, “the fact that it’s tailoring its solutions to the needs of those who activated it has wonderful implications. This means that, if we assume that the holo planet at the end is a map to another vault, the vault there may be adjusted according to each of our species’ need.”

Chief Lucan nodded. “It’s wonderful news, particularly so for us turians. Of course, we can survive with the food grown from the labs but having a dextro planet of our own is still different.”

“Or if we figure out how the vault works, we can terraform on our own,” Professor Henrik suggested.

“Have you began to study it?” Captain Dunn asked them.

 “Thanks to scans of the vault provided by K and SAM, we’ll have some data to figure out how it works. We’ll inform you later of our findings as soon as we finish. But we need to go down there personally so we can study it further.”

“As soon as we secured the area,” Captain Dunn said. “We’ll need to establish a viable colony there and deal with the hostile aliens.”

Professor Henrik nodded. “Of course. However, not all of it is good,” he said gravely. “The wildlife left at Eos won’t adapt to the sudden change of climate, particularly something foreign to them. We predict that soon, there will be another mass extinction of existing life in there. It is regrettable, but necessary. We recommend that if we had established a colony there, the settlers should collect what they find and preserve samples, so if we find a world capable of supporting them, we can transfer them there.”

Captain Dunn nodded. “I’ll review your proposal later _._ Anything else?” she asked around the table.

“I also found this in the vault,” Scott said and brought out the thermal clip. It rolled to the center of the table where it drew the attention of everyone. Sloane leaned forward to examine it. “So one of ours got in it,” she observed. “If so, then where are they now? Why haven’t they fixed the vault?”

“We don’t know. We just found it there along with some scuff marks,” Scott answered.

“Maybe it came from the missing Pathfinders?” Captain Dunn suggested.

“Maybe. But the exiles also carried this,” Sloane pointed out.

“We found an exile down there at an alien base in one of the monoliths. His name’s Nakmor Drack,” Scott informed them, looking at Kesh.

Kesh grunted and shook her head. “Ugh. Yes, he’s my grandfather and he’s not an exile. He’s looking for his scouts who were lost a while back. If anyone’s brave enough to tell a krogan veteran what they can and cannot do, please stand up.” When no one moved, she turned to Scott. “Though I don’t know why this is even relevant to the discussion?”

“Just pointing out the fact that other people can survive in Eos before we activated the vault,” he answered and turned away from her. “We have no information about the Pathfinders. We never saw a trace of them down there other than the thermal clip if we assume that it came from them.”

They sat looking at the thermal clip for a moment when Captain Dunn cleared her throat. “Whatever this means, our Security Team will take care of it,” she said with a look at Sloane who nodded. “But keep looking for any clue about the Pathfinders' whereabouts. So moving past that, are there any more questions?” No one said anything so she turned to the Nexus Science Team. “Good work, Nexus team.” Then she turned towards Scott. “And good work, Pathfinder team. We’ll arrange a ceremony at Eos for the first time we settle. You and your team will be there for the ground-breaking rights and formal turn-over of the planet to the designated colony mayor, August Bradley. But as for now, Addison arranged an informal party here to celebrate. Despite what we’ve been through and the people we lost, we have proven now that the Initiative was a success. Good job, everybody.” She beamed at them. “I’ll see you at the atrium.”

* * *

“So, how does it feel to have made history?” Marcus said to Scott as they kept beaming at the people either requesting their picture, chatting with them or simply just being seen with them. They were wearing formal dress, which was a plain white suit with the Initiative logo and blue stripes paired with white pants. Most people were dressed casually or whatever dress they have that is festive or new enough for the occasion. Others were wearing their work gear but who cares what they’re wearing? This was their first win after so many disasters.

The atrium was temporarily transformed into a function hall. There was a surprising amount of booze, and they were eating real food now instead of nutrient paste. Kesh really outdone herself here. Addison tried to make the party formal, but Captain Dunn put her foot down and decided that they’d have enough formalities during the turnover ceremony at Eos. So at her speech, with the vista of the Tempest behind her, she just told them to eat and be merry for once, because they all earned it. 

“Last time I remembered, you were there, Zola. You tell me,” Scott answered. He looked up and saw Keri T’Vessa waving at them from the deck above. She looks happy to be back as a reporter instead of being a tech jockey as she had done ever since the Nexus arrived. She and her cameraman were maneuvering through the throng of people, perhaps to corner them again for an interview so they moved away, pretending that someone just out of their reach was calling them.

“Pretty damn great. I can’t believe what we’ve achieved down there," Marcus answered as they squeezed through the people between the stairs and the trees in the middle of the floor. "Just the four of us…and SAM of course. Hey, has anyone find out how to make a computer drunk?”

“Please don’t. I need my driver sober because I am going to get smashed to night.”

Marcus grinned. “Of course. You deserve it.”

Through the course of their escape, they ran into Sloane. “Good work out there, Pathfinder,” she said, grinning. Her smile is as sharp as the spiky, inflated rubber like shawl she has around her neck. “I almost expected you’d get yourself killed just like all those people who gets the job because Daddy said they can.”

He glared at her. “Are you actually saying that I wanted my father to die just so I can have his job?”

Her smile wobbled and then disappeared. “Well…no.”

Scott just looked at her with disgust. “Whatever, Sloane. I didn't come here to quarrel with you.” So saying, he pushed past her until they’re out of earshot.

“What a bitch,” Scott muttered and threw back his drink. His mood was starting to sour and they’re barely an hour in.

“I know. But don’t let her ruin your night, ok? She’s not worth it,” Marcus said.

They decided to grab a few more drinks to forget what Sloane said so by pushing and shoving, they found themselves near Cora, who was leaning on the counter of the merchant shop converted temporarily into a bar. She was typing something on a datapad.

“You’re got work even on this night?” Scott asked her incredulously.

Her fringe bobbed up and across her face as she looked up. “No it’s not work. I’m arranging with Addison the details of the funeral service for your father and the others.” She realized what she just said and immediately put a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry. I was not supposed to tell you here.”

His mood, already soured by Sloane, got dinged even further. “What service?”

She looked pleadingly at Marcus but he shook his head. So she sighed. There was no point in keeping it secret any longer. “We didn’t have time to deal with them and Captain Dunn decided it’s offensive to you if they did it without telling you about it. They’re thinking of conducting it after the turn-over of Eos. As well as coordinating the details, I’m preparing a speech for them.” She peered at him. “Unless..you have one for your father?”

Scott did not know how to deal with that yet. He pushed his feelings at the back of his mind because their mission comes first. Other people’s needs come first. He didn’t even visit Sara yet and tell her that they really made it.

If he started thinking about it....

“I don’t think I can do it,” he answered. “I’ll be greatly honored if you speak for us all, Cora.”

She nodded. “Of course.”

“Thank you.” He smiled as brightly as he could. “I’m sure you have plenty of things to do and I hate paperwork. I admit I’m a very selfish guy so I’ll just leave you alone.”

She opened her mouth to say something, then thought it over and decided just to nod. Scott and Marcus took their drinks and with a nod at Cora, they walked away. 

“Hey, man,” Marcus said, catching up to him. “Are you alright?”

Scott paused. “Honestly, I’m not. I really need to get smashed.”

 “Alright then. but you know, we’re always here if you need to talk.”

Scott smiled. “Dr Lexi may have already beaten you to the punch, Zola.”

Marcus grinned and shrugged. “Ah, well. There’s no competing with an asari.”

 Scott downed the drink in his hand and thought about asking for their strongest drink. Hang-over is a bitch but he’d rather be insensible right now.

* * *

A few days after the turn-over of Eos, a small crew of the Hyperion and the Pathfinder team were gathered before one of the Nexus’ docking bay to pay their last respects to some of the Pathfinding team who lost their lives to save them. Scott stood before the dark grey casket of his father. To his side were the families of Greer, Fisher and Markland, holding their pictures in their hands and sobbing. He was more fortunate than they were, for they had his father’s body from Habitat 7, while the others had only their personal effects inside the caskets.

He had talked to Sara that morning. Though she still hasn’t woken, Dr Carlyle and SAM managed to talk to her through her implant and their connection. It was only for a few minutes, but Sara managed to ask where their Father is, if they had reached Habitat 7 and what Habitat 7 was like. He lied about all three.

“Why do I feel like you’re crying, Scott?” her voice asked him, reverberating inside his mind.

Scott was holding her hand, but she can’t feel it. “I’m just…happy that you’re alive.”

She was about to ask further but the connection ended. Dr Carlyle assured him that they’d try later.

Captain Dunn stepped forward to the podium. She looked over the crowd and started. “We are gathered here today to make final respects to our honored dead. And yet all should know that this death takes place in the shadow of new world. A world to start new lives, new journeys and new adventures. A world they have paid for dearly, but dearly bought. A sacrifice we will remember as long as we live as well as our children’s children.” She looked behind her and nodded at Cora. She went forward as Captain Dunn stepped back. “My name is Cora Harper. I’m part of the Pathfinder team and their friend and colleague. I am here to say that I'm honored to have been with them.”

Scott looked down as Cora told them about their family members so no once can see how wet his eyes are. He heard her tell little anecdotes, words and sayings she had learned from them. Flattering portraits, as if the dead men were gods who had just dropped for a visit, imparted their wisdom and then returned to their heavenly dwellings, never to return. But funerals are for the living, not the dead.

They all finished with the speeches and assembled to send the caskets into the atmosphere of the world below them, where it will burn to ashes. They formed a line on either side, as each casket passed between them with the music singing them goodbye. The former soldiers did a salute as they passed, while Fisher’s mother reached out and touched her son's casket one last time, sobbing while holding on to his portrait.

Scott held on the salute, as his father’s casket burned and turned to dust.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Part 1 is over. Yay. Feel free to post your feelings about that in the comment section below. Also, I'm looking for a beta reader for this fic so if anyone's interested, please leave a message.


	12. Chapter 12

Before the Pathfinding Team left for the turn-over ceremony at Eos, Kesh called Scott over to discuss something in her office.

“Hey, Kesh. What’s up?” Scott asked as he entered, his tone cheery and his step light. He was not of the type to dwell long on negative emotions and he had the establishment of their first colony to look forward to. He told himself there's no time to dwell on himself when there's still work to be done.

Kesh waited for him behind her desk, her office clean and free of the crates he last saw in it. Though it has the same boring Initiative design for an office, boxy and filled with only utilitarian furniture, it did look remarkably improved even though it had no personality whatsoever. “Nothing serious. Just going to ask a favor.”

He slowed to a stop. The word favor never failed to make suspicion crawl down his spine. “A favor?”

She nodded. “Yes. It’s about my grandfather, Drack. I remember you’ve met down at Eos.”

He tipped his head back slightly.  _Ah yes, the laughing krogan_. “I remember.”

“He’s down there to search for his scouts and he said there’s been no sign of them. Maybe they were abducted by the aliens. Well, since you both are going to be travelling much, I think it’s a good idea for both of you if you take him with you. He’s a veteran so he won’t be a burden. I’ve talked to him already on assisting you as best he can in exchange for letting him in. So, will you take him?”

He did thought it then a good idea for him to join them but he’s not looking forward to be with someone who laughed in his face when he asked it. He did have a little pride after all.  “I don’t know Kesh. He doesn’t seem the type to play nice with other people.”

Kesh snorted. “He’s just a crochety old man. But he wouldn’t harm anyone without reason. He’ll behave as a favor to me.”

He thought it over but then a completely different idea occurred to him. “I get it, you’re worried for him.” 

Kesh rolled her eyes. “Yes, fine. I am worried for him. He’s tough but he’s lived for so long that it’s possible he’ll end face up down there at the desert. Besides, no amount of roaring at the wind will bring back his scouts so it’s only common sense that he teams up with you.”

“Aw, look at you all soft inside,” he teased.

“Yes, yes. Beneath all this tough leather, we Krogans have a heart too,” Kesh replied drily. “Or hearts. Now will you take him or not or shall we keep comparing the softness of our insides?”

“Now, there’s no need for the violence,” Scott said, half-laughing. “Fine, I’ll take him.”

Kesh nodded. “Thank you, Pathfinder. Talk to me when you want to cash it in.”

Still chuckling, Scott left her office, past the atrium and onto the docking bay where his team was waiting for him. He contacted them to ask whether everything was ready and they answered that all systems are go. When he reached the tube to the door towards their ship, he slowed to a stop, seeing Kesh grandfather before it. Though he said he was going to take the old man with him, seeing the old krogan face to face brought out the memory of their first meeting and he stiffened a bit. 

“Drack,” he acknowledged.

The krogan stopped leaning against the door frame and straightened himself. “Pathfinder.”

They stood awkwardly for a while, their efforts to breach the topic of working together tripped by them sizing each other up. “So…I just talked to Kesh. I take it we’ll be working with each other now?” Scott finally said.

“Sure. I help you do your job, you help me find my scouts. It’s a good deal.”

“Right. So anything I should know before I let you board my ship?”

Drack’s reptilian eyes narrowed at him then he smirked. “Looks like you’re still mad at me for laughing at you back in Eos," he rumbled. "It was nothing personal. I would’ve laughed at any grunt then who ask me to join them while looking like they can’t survive another day, much less a week. The fact that you’re standing here alive meant you’re not as weak as I thought.”

“And why is it that I should have your approval?” he asked with slight irritation.

“I’ve been through the Rachni war and the Krogan Rebellions.  I have enough of carrying weaklings through a fight.”

He drew back slightly, in awe. It was very rare to see someone as old as him in a profession where young people usually die. But on the other hand, he may still be carrying a grudge from those wars. “My job involves working with other aliens. In fact, my pilot is a salarian and my procurement officer is a turian.”

He snorted. “You know, to us the measure of a warrior depends on the measure of their enemies. Your people are safe from me. I don’t war on civilians. So I don’t give a shit about them.  I only want to find my scouts.”

Drack looked intimidating and imposing, with his grizzled face, the sharp eyes and the bones of giant beasts all around his armor. He also thought he's of a taciturn disposition and so there’s nothing else he could gain from him. Besides, he already promised to Kesh to take him with them so all this conversation was unnecessary posturing. He admitted that much, and also admitted it was silly. So he put his wounded pride aside and held out a hand to the krogan. “We could use your experience.”

Drack met it with his hand. “And you’ll have it.”

“Welcome aboard, Drack.”

He nodded. Though they agreed to work together, it did not mean they will be friends and so walked through the connecting tunnel with a lukewarm air about them. They reached the door and Scott was about to tap on his omnitool to open it when someone called his name.

“Pathfinder! Scott! Wait for me!”

He turned his head and saw K running towards them, lugging a suitcase behind her, the wheels screeching on the gleaming white floor. She stopped in front of them, panting heavily and said, “If he can come, then I can come too," she said, pointing at Drack.

“K?" Scott asked, surprised. "I thought you’re with the Nexus science team?”

“Pfft. They’re nice, but it’s so boring, sitting all day looking at reports, you know? I’d rather be in the field, during the scene of the action. Now that’s exciting. Besides, they needed a field agent, someone who know what to look for out there. I mean do you have anyone else who can spot what will be important for them and their reports?”

They don’t. Suvi was also a scientist but she said she preferred a more relaxed environment when doing her research.

“I’ve heard you’re short of engineers,” she continued, without waiting for his reply. “I’m happy to tell you that I’m a certified ship mechanic. Well, not on cutting edge ships like the Tempest but I learn very quickly I promise. Why people say I’m just as good as a quarian when it comes to ships.”

“You’ve talked to Kesh,” he said, deducing where she knew about their need of engineers.

She swayed slightly as she stood. “Not exactly. I just listened here and there.”

“Of course,” he said, remembering how she sneaked up on an elite team like them back at the monolith to get a drop on him. Literally.

She clapped her hands. “So, can I come with you? Please?” she begged.

“You sure the science team won’t miss you?”

“Pretty sure even a meteor would pass by them and they wouldn’t notice. Well, except Chief Lucan. He’s really into rocks, particularly if its shiny. But I’m not a rock so I’m sure he won’t miss me.”

He chuckled. “Alright, K. If no one’s going to complain, then welcome aboard,” he said. He thought well of her due to their adventure at the vault and did not doubt her ability to keep up with them. 

K shot her hands up in the air. “Yes! Thankyouthankyouthankyou. Nowshallwego?” she said and half pulled, half pushed them into the door.

* * *

As the Tempest sailed towards Eos, Scott thought it he should get started on knowing his crew. He started with the people he was familiar with. Though they had trained together before they left for Andromeda, it was six hundred years ago and they spent most of the time training than getting to know each other. He went to one of the rooms on the cargo bay and found Marcus pushing an old couch across his room. “Moving day?” he joked.

“Nah,” Marcus said. He stood up and patted his hands. “Just moving it someplace because I got tired staring at the wall so maybe I’d thought I’d stare at the other wall. It’d be a nice change of view, especially since there’s a water spot here I could admire.”

“Is this some hint that I should get you a vidscreen?”

Marcus gave him an amused look. “What would I watch out of it? It’s not like there’s rugby tournaments here in Andromeda.”

“A shame. Your couch really need people sitting on it cheering on their favorite teams,” he remarked, looking at the couch, worn, gray but still comfy looking, in the dimly lit room. The room was still bare, Marcus' rucksacks piled on the foot of his drawers beside the unmade bed.

“Yep,” Marcus agreed, patting its leather back. “All the more reason we should hurry up and get the colonies up and running," he said. He sat on one end of the couch and pat the seat next to him. "Anyway, you brought anything out the ol’ Milky Way?”

“Nope. Just the clothes on my back," Scott answered, sitting at the other end, the couch sagging under his weight. "So I’m guessing this is yours?”

“Yep,” he said. “When I signed up to go here at Andromeda, I never expect we’d live in the lap of luxury, you know? Like having your own comfy bed. I’d experienced sleeping in hammocks, lying on the ground, but at the end of the day, I’d really need something proper to lie on. And why not my old couch? It’d be comfortable after a long day and you could just lie back and pop a beer while watching some reruns. And also annoy stingy people." He chuckled. "The face they made when I told them this is my one thing was priceless.” 

Marcus twisted up and bent to the side, rummaging at the side table. Finally, he raised himself up, holding two bottles. “Beer?”

Scott smiled and took one. “You’re prepared for anything, huh?”

“Nah. Just good old hospitality.” They popped it open and fell silent for a while as they savored the last beers from the Milky Way.

Scott looked at Marcus closely. Before they went into cryo, the Pathfinding team had done some drills on some possible scenarios they might be facing. Marcus was mostly the one facilitating them, giving them tips and strategies when they find themselves in crisis situations, well beyond the basic military training Scott got from the Alliance. He acts like an NCO and yet his demeanor wasn’t exactly soldier-like. He’s far too relaxed even in professional settings and does not observe military decorum.

“You don’t look like a military man to me,” he observed.

“That’s because I’m not like you and Cora. I was a cop.”

“Ah, figures. So, how’d a cop end up here?”

“Same reason why anyone would quit the force. They just don’t wanna be cops anymore.”

“You were burned out?”

“Yep,” Marcus said, with a quick glance to the left. “There’s a limit to battered children, carved up victims and overdosed teens you can take, right? Figured if I’d be seeing the worst a human body can take, might as well be where it isn’t your fellow humans doing it. I don’t want to just patrol neighborhoods though, so after two years, I took a lateral promotion to crisis response. Digging people out of trouble was far better to everyone than pulling a father away from carving up their child’s face then get suspended because I used ‘too much force’. Anyway, that’s how I heard about Heavy Urban Search Terran 1. HUS-T1 but we call it HUSTL. It’s Earth’s contribution to the crisis response program of the Citadel, helping each other out so we can learn to play nicely. You get the drift. Anyway, it sounds good to me and I joined up along with some vets and civilians looking for some challenge. We get sent into natural disasters, war zones and industrial accidents across the Milky Way. I can rival Cora on how many worlds we traveled. That’s how I know how to act in alien environments." He leveled his gaze at him. "And that’s how I met your father.”

He sipped his beer then exhaled in satisfaction. “I was helping out during a factory collapse at Eden Prime. Some batarian mercs thought they could get quick credits if they took people hostage. But the owner was stingy so they decided to torch the place along with everyone in it. We got called in and your father happened to be in the area. He was looking then for people who can thrive in any critical situation and I fit the bill.”

“And my father what, sweet talked you?”

Marcus chuckled. “Well, no one really says no to your father. If an N7 and a famous hero says drop everything, you drop everything.”

“Really? You really came all the way here because my father said so?”

“I’m joking. Of course I’ve thought about the deal after he presented it to me. Going to another galaxy? Not only does it sound ballsy, it really does get my goat. The unknown is my playground. I thrive in it. So yes, Andromeda sounds really good to me.”

"Do you have a family?”

“Yes. My folks weren’t pleased when I told them about my decision, especially my mom. She was sobbing really hard. I was her baby, you understand. My brother and sisters didn’t really understand too and tried to make me stay. They reaaaally tried hard to make me stay. In the end, I got my last rites then I joined your father." He turned to Scott. “So what about you? What made you come to Andromeda?”

Scott paused as he thought how to phrase his true feelings. Marcus looked so convinced by his father that he thought it rude if Alec’s own son say he didn’t believe in his legend. So he settled on a safe answer. “My family is here. Besides, I‘ve always wanted to explore.”

“Of course,” Marcus replied. If he noticed his hesitation, he did not show it. “Looks like we both get our wish,” he said cheerfully and raised his glass for a toast.

* * *

Scott emerged onto the research deck when he heard scuffling from the biolab, which doubled as Cora’s quarters. He stopped, listening but the sounds weren't abating and so he went to investigate. He knocked on the door and heard Cora's muffled voice inside telling him to come in.  The door opened and he found Cora, squatting down, shoving containers under the plant beds as she tidied up. The plants suspended above her shook as she put away each one.

“Something wrong?” he asked her.

She turned to him, her fringe flicking away from her hair and swaying back to rest gracefully on one side. “Maybe,” she answered and stood up, slapping her hands free of dirt. The plants bobbed and swayed, the stems quivering and the tender leaves trembling. 

“Anything I can do to help?”

Her lips thinned and she paused to answer. Then she ran a hand over her hair and sighed irritably. “It’s just my biotics acting up. I don’t normally lose it like this. A huntress should have a better control,” she answered.

“A huntress?”

“Yes." She sat down on one of the crates and motioned for Scott to use the seat near her. As he sat, he reflexively glanced beyond the curtain hanging in the middle of the room which Cora seem to be using as a temporary divider and bunched to the side. Though there were a lot of crates stacked around, her room was neat and orderly, the bed made with the bedsheet tucked in the corners. Her boots were arrayed shiny on the foot while her clothes hang pressed and clean in the slightly open cabinet. "When I joined the Alliance, I was sent on an interstellar biotic program headed by the asari, Therys’s Daughters. Of course, I didn’t know then that the Alliance had their own secret biotic program BAat and I was sent to the asari as a cover. Still, I’m lucky I guess that I did not end up in BAat.”

“How was it like being in the asari program?” he asked.

“Me and Janae were the babies. Tethys was our sniper. Kalia patched us between fights while Valenza prayed between firefights. Our CO, Nisira, led us all over Athena Nebula, hunting pirates, pacifying dissidents and eliminating terrorists.”

As she talked, he saw her face slowly relax as she reminisced about her time with the asari. “You seem really to enjoy your time with them there,” he said softly.

She smiled. “Yes. But Alliance needed me back so I have to go and leave them.”

“And then you discovered that you’re just a cover.”

She nodded. “It was a great shock to me. I thought the Alliance were interested in the advancement of our race through biotics because they really wanted our race to improve. I never suspected they only see it as a way to one-up the other races.” She shrugged. “Still, I can’t complain after everything they’ve done for me.” She smiled apologetically again when she saw him confused. “I’m sorry. I’m telling it wrong.  Maybe I should start from the beginning.”

“Let’s hear it.”

She put her hands together, inhaled and expelled loudly. “Well, I was born from merchants who deal mainly with transporting cargo between worlds. Sometimes, the cargo they’re transporting is eezo. My mother has been handling them and also worked around the ship drive as the chief engineer. She worked there even when she was carrying me. So I was exposed to eezo in the womb and that was how I was born a biotic. I’m lucky I was born one and not with a brain tumor as it usually happens, but my parents felt a lot of guilt over it. It got worse as I grew older. They didn’t make enough money to hire someone to teach me how to control my power. Meanwhile, the Alliance are interested in biotics and on people who have them. They eventually heard of me and offered to my parents. They have the resources, the knowledge and the implants. My parents…decided to give me up.”

“I’m sorry. That must be hard.”

She shook her head, the fringe swaying to and fro across her eyes. “It was hard when I was young and can rip APC apart without effort and then have my peers and teachers look at me in fear. Everyone knows, even me, that I could really hurt them even if I didn’t want to. It was harder for my parents. Who wouldn’t be afraid that your child may end up to be a monster even if they didn’t mean to? They were also blaming themselves for the way I ended up. So they explained to me that it was best for everyone that I should be with the Alliance.”

“Did you hate them for that?”

“No. I was old enough to understand what I could do.”

“So after training with the asari, you went back to the Alliance.”

“Yes. I did as I was expected to do. Showed people what biotics can achieve and pretty much rolled with the Alliance’s campaign to have biotics as the next step in human evolution.” She smiled fondly. “I remember my parents being so proud of me. Even after I left them for the Alliance, they kept track of me. They kept recordings of me in the news and everything else.”

“Are your parents back in the Milky Way?”

The smile faded. “No. They…died. They were heading back to Earth from Eden Prime when they had an accident. Or a pirate attack. No one knows much what happened to them, only that their ship was a burned-out husk and they were ashes.”

“I’m sorry.”

She nodded. “Thank you. It happened a few years ago. Wait, I meant 614 years ago.”

“So... why did you join the Initiative?”

“After their death, I just didn’t…care anymore about work. I was getting tired of being the poster child for the next generation of superhumans. Of being perfect and keeping the people inspired about our future and then it happened and everything…didn’t matter anymore.  I paid my years of service so I considered resigning and just live somewhere…anywhere. Then I met your dad. Showed up on my doorstep about an insane plan to get to another galaxy. He was one persistent bastard," she said, with a wry smile. "I don’t have anywhere to go anyway, so I might as well be on a new galaxy. Besides the workplace was getting toxic.”

“How?”

“You understand that I was barely out of my teens when I was sent to the asari, and my only friends then where my parents. The other parents are afraid of me being close with their kid. So my first friends were the asari and they were important to me growing up. I wasn’t treated like a freak or a god, but as like themselves. Normal. When the program ended, I’ve grown fond of them. Maybe too fond,” she said and laughed ruefully. “Maybe I annoyed the other soldiers by frequently talking about them. I just missed them but I’ve said it aloud too many times that they thought I had…gone native. They've dropped a lot of hints that if I like them so much, then I should go live with them. I was just fond of the asari but I don't regret being human. But I guess it’s too late for them.”

“I didn’t know it was hard on you in the Alliance.”

“They’re not that bad. But by then, I didn’t have much to aim for.” She smiled and continued in a lighter tone, “So here we are, a million light years away. Ready to make a fresh start.”

He nodded, smiling also. “And hope we get lucky.”

“Anything else you want to know?”

“Cora?”

“Yes?”

“You were second-in command in the Pathfinding team. Were you…friends with my father?”

She chuckled. “Your father’s prickly as hell so he’s more like a mentor to me. He trained me hard on being a Pathfinder so I was shocked that he chose you over me.” Her eyes widened when she realized what she just said and held a hand to her mouth. “Oh, Scott, that just slip out. I didn’t mean-“

“Let’s have it out, Cora instead of rocking the poor, innocent plants,” he said drily which made her glance up at the plant beds. The plants were fine, just a little rattled, so she turned her attention back to him. She looked unsure if she should do as he suggested, but she agreed eventually.

“When your father was training me, I thought he meant me to succeed him. He's trained me for years but you joined us only recently and barely was trained before we set out, so I never expected he would hand it to you.”

“Believe me Cora, if I was only asked, I would have given it to you too.”

She looked at him, thinking about his offer and concluded that it was moot. SAM cannot be separated from him now. She still appreciated the gesture, though. “But here we are. You’re the Pathfinder now, despite what we wanted,” she said, the smile on her lips wobbly.

“Yes.”

They fell silent. Tension hung heavily between them, made of a sense of injustice on her side and resentment on his. The air was taut as a string, stretching, stretching, ready to snap. But they were loath to break it and so moved away.

“That was all I want to ask, Cora. Another time, maybe,” he said, polite but stiff as he rose up.

“Yes,” she replied, relieved. “Stop by if you need anything,” she said and turned to tend to the plants. She did not look as the door opened to let him out.


	13. Chapter 13

After talking to Vetra, Gil, Drack, Kallo, Suvi and Lexi, he looked all over his ship for his last crew member. He was sure there were nine of them but apparently, one was missing.

“SAM, where’s K?” he asked in defeat, peering at the empty quarters again.

“She is at the escape pod near the cargo bay,” the AI answered.

“Escape pod? She’s at the escape pod all that time? ” he wondered.

“Yes. She has been in there for four hours and counting.”

 _What was interesting about an escape pod for her to spend hours in it?_  he wondered as he walked to the cargo bay and went to the escape pod’s door which opened before him. There he found his quarry as the AI said. She was really in there, but she was also surrounded by a bunch of equipment which he recognized as a mix of tech from Remnant and the hostile aliens.

“Woah!” he said, prompting her to turn around and face him. “What are those? And are those cleared?” he asked, pointing at the pile.

“Oh! These are just some project of mine. Yes, they’re cleared; I had Gil and Kallo check them before bringing them on board.  I also have containment shields put on it just in case." Scott opened his mouth to reply but she did not wait for him to answer and hurried on, "I know bringing in unknown tech is dangerous so this is why I’m working on them in an escape pod. So if it goes crazy you can just shoot the whole pod away.” She paused as she thought it over. “Preferably without…me. In it. Because I’m with you. Here?” she asked him with a hopeful look.

Scott looked long at her, considering her proposal. “Well, If we did shoot the pod away with you in it, we'll be sure to inform you first."

She put a hand on her hips and laughed awkwardly. "Haha. That's so funny." Then the smile dropped and she sobered, looking fearfully at him . "Wait, you're joking, right?"

Scott smiled. "Of course I'm joking. What do you take us for, barbarians?"

She laughed-coughed in relief and she exclaimed, "By the goddess' droopy tits! Please Scott, don't joke at me like that."

Scott chuckled at her reaction. "Okay. I promise this is the last time I'll do that."

She laughed genuinely this time and she was still smiling when she asked, "So, what can I do for you?"

"Just checking up, see how the whole crew's getting together." "Are you sure this is a good place for you to be working on that?" he asked, gesturing at the white interior of the pod which was lit up too harsh and bright, making both of them looked washed-out. "It’s not very roomy. Besides, we need the escape pod just in case of, you know, this whole ship about to blow up and we need to bail?”

“I’m sorry. There isn’t any more room for it anywhere on the ship and I can’t work with a lot of noise around. I thought you wouldn’t mind,” she said, looking like a kicked puppy. “But I understand. I’ll move it out.”

“No. Keep it here for a moment. I’ll find a space for a lab for you soon,” he said, thinking of the Pathfinder’s Cabin. The room was shaped like a half moon and half as big as their cargo bay, with the king-sized bed in the middle, a little living room on the side and the study table on the other side. It was easily the prettiest room on the ship, with the screen of the passing stars at the head of the bed and the floor made of dark faux wood. But he thought it was extravagant, particularly when half his crew was forced to bunk together in a cabin a little more than a box and colored the same boring Initiative gray with only a single study table for amenities. Perhaps he can ask Gil and Vetra to partition the living room off since he rarely uses it to make a lab for K and drill a hole in the kitchen adjacent to it to make a door.

Idly, he wondered what his father would make of it if the original Pathfinding team survived. Or what he would think of his father sleeping in luxury while he’s slumming it in shitty quarters.

He shook his thoughts off. Whatever. It won’t happen and what was important was the present, which at this time, was beaming.

“Really?” K said, her eyes going big with happiness. “Thank you. You’re so kind.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I won’t forget this. I promise you’ll be the first one to view the results my study when I’m done with them.”

As if he wouldn’t. _Would she withhold her research if he didn’t offer her a more comfortable room?_ he wondered.

“Great. I’ll look forward to it.” He nodded at the tech. “So, any progress?”

“Hmm.” She turned her back to him and stood with a hip cocked and both hands on it. “Not much, particularly because they’re two different systems,” she said, also looking at it. “I don’t know the code of that one,” she said, pointing at the black Remnant tech with the glowing green lines running across its surface, “and that’s one's genetically locked,’ she said, pointing at the alien tech. “Also it’s organic inspired, so technically, it’s dead.”

“Dead? How can a tech be dead?”

“Well, its functions are similar to an organism than to our tech. I had Dr. Lexi take a look at it and she said there’s growth lines there, like a rings of a tree. Also a nervous system instead of wires.”

“You mean the base back at the monolith was a tree? We’re attacking a tree?”

She conjured the image of the base on her omni-tool which looked more like a head of a garlic than a tree with its bulbous walls. “That doesn’t look like a tree I know. But yes, something like that.”

He returned his gaze at the tech, with his mouth agape. “Wow.”

“Yep. Wow,” she agreed, closing her omni-tool and joined him in looking in wonder at the pile. 

“No regrets leaving the Milky Way behind?” he asked. “Family? Your home?”

She turned to him with a smirk. “Why would I be? My home is just a tiny village in a forest somewhere in Sanves, going overgrown with weeds you'd choke on if the old biddies there didn’t get to you first with their 'great age and wisdom',” she said, with a mocking tone at the last three words. “As for my parents, I don’t think they’d miss me much since they sure were prompt in kicking me out when I turned legal.”

“Oh. I’m sorry,” he said, forgetting that not all were lucky to have his parents.

“It’s alright. They weren’t bad, not really. They’re just…disinterested.”

“Where did you go after that?”

Her face clouded over. “Well, I went to get my degrees at the University of Plonaea at the capital, Etheai and then went on finding and fixing…stuff. I’m not rich enough to go and study unknown tech like those of the Protheans so,” she expelled a breath, “here I am.”

_She’s not rich enough to be part of the digs on Prothean artifacts but she had money to purchase a berth at the Initiative?_

“But you can afford a ticket to here?”

She shifted uncomfortably. “Um, let’s just say I have...someone who…paid for me,” she said.

“A sponsor?”

“You can say that. Does it apply to a girlfriend?”

“Oh.”

“Ex-girlfriend now, actually. I realized I can’t stand her face after waking up from a very long sleep.”

A thought occurred to him. _Maybe that was why she was rushing to get in with them back at the docks?_

He thought it wasn't good of her to bail out on someone who paid for her trip here but she was looking extremely embarrassed right now. He was about to change the subject when the intercom beeped.  “Scott, Kallo here. We’ve arrived at Eos,” their pilot informed him.

“Got it. I’ll be there shortly,” he answered and the line went silent.

“Well, That’s it. Nice talking to you, K,” he said, smiling at her. “Now let’s go see our new colony." She nodded, looking very relieved that they stopped talking about her problems and together they left the pod.

* * *

Although they have secured a planet for their needs, their problems weren’t over. An orbital scan of the planet revealed an outpost of the hostile aliens many miles north of the vault and shielded by unknown means. There was also some strange facilities near it, with a series of giant towers shaped like a T on a great stretch of the desert. What they were they do not know; they had no further capabilities to make extensive studies on it except cursory observations. They have no offense nor defense capabilities which did not cheer August Bradley on the prospect of his given assignment as their first colony’s mayor. ‘Between Scylla and Charybdis’ was how he put it. Either they risk getting attacked by the aliens or they starve to death. Still, his easy-going manner and his ability to be cool even under stress brought about by his long career in the Alliance helped mask his concerns on his crinkly, kind face, which reassured his colonists and strengthened their morale.

They could not risk provoking the aliens or settle far away from the vault with its great but mysterious terra-forming capabilities so they finally settled in an end of a canyon, the cliffs shielding them from the great winds made abrasive by Eos’ sand. They have no water, but with the vault producing oxygen and the Nexus shipping in their hydrogen refined from the gas giant it orbited, their water problem was solved by making fuel cells from both. The resulting reactions gave them enough water for their needs and so they were fine for now. That is, until the Initiative’s eezo supply runs out so they were hoping, nay, __praying__  at the vault to give them a miracle.  

Sloane had lent a small group of their working shuttles for them and also sent a satellite to orbit the planet to watch the alien facilities and monitor the alien activities as they go on and off planet. It wasn’t a lot of protection but if the aliens decided to get antsy at them, the satellite could at least warn Podromos to evacuate and the shuttles can carry them off before the colony gets destroyed.

The Pathfinding team arrived in Podromos to check out their first colony, giddy like new parents over their newborn. The colony doesn’t look like much, just prefab structures plopped down on the ground, but at least it’s running. There’s an ops center, then a science center, offices, med bay, then quarters and a greenhouse for testing agriculture viability. Scott talked with Bradley about how he’d run the colony. He was satisfied with the man’s replies and thought him as capable, dependable and a quick thinker, exactly what a colony in the frontier needs. He expressed how happy he was that Podromos has such a man to look after it, which made Bradley very happy and he directed them to meet the other members of his team, starting with the overseer, Hainly Abrams.

Scott, Cora and Marcus went to find the overseer while the others went around to look at the product of their work. They found Hainly at an office with a glass window at one end to let the natural light in and with walls made of drab gray with darker gray accents and floor. There were panels and random pipes running across the walls made of rusty steel and at one side, Hainly Abrams was busy at her desk drawing the work schedules for the day and the week. The overseer has a small tanned face, with short dark hair and dark eyes. She had light make-up on, with purple eyeshadow on her lids and berry colored lips, even though she was doing frontier work.

“Ah, Pathfinder,” she greeted, standing up and putting her work away. She walked around her desk to stand in front of him and offer a hand. “I hear you’re the one we have to thank for our physics-defying atmosphere processor.”

“Just doing my job,” Scott said, taking her hand and shaking it. She has a rather nice deep husky voice that seemed too luxurious to hear in a hard scrabble colony.

 “And being humble about it,” she remarked, a smiling. “Hainly Abrams, colony overseer here on Eos. Bradley’s the one making the big decisions here; I only run the day to day operations. In my spare time, I’m also writer of papers that start with “What the hell, weather?” But since we’re prioritizing military defense, we may be asking that question for a while. New galaxy, New world and a really new start. Got to keep up,” she said cheerfully. She seemed passionate about her job and he hoped her enthusiasm will rub off on the colonists here. “How can I help you?”

Scott gestured around them. “I’m just checking in and see how you’re doing.”

“We’re doing great. We’ve already seen changes since you triggered the vault. Nothing scary just yet. I swiped some military scanners to keep an eye on things. Best I can do.”

“How do you feel about our first colony being a military outpost?”

Her nose wrinkled slightly. “Honestly, I don’t like it much. It isn’t what the initiative was for, isn’t it? We need to understand Eos, research on remnant tech but our budget’s earmarked for military research,” she said and sighed. “A scientific outpost would be a better complement to our farms. We could get food produced faster with it.”

“We still don’t know what kind of threats we have here,” Scott said. “Like the aliens just beyond the mountains. So you’ll have to be patient with us military people for a little longer until we make sure the colony’s safe for everyone.”

She nodded, more to accept than to agree. “You’re right. I don’t doubt you’ve chosen the best for us, Pathfinder. I guess if we want something else, we’ll first have to make this work, then.”

“Is there something else you need?”

She hesitated. “I...have a request, Pathfinder, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure. What is it?”

She looked embarrassed, biting her lip. “This is...really awkward. I don’t know how to put this delicately.”

“it’s alright. You can trust me.”

She looked at him, opened her mouth then suddenly changed her mind. She smiled apologetically and shook her head. “We’ve already taken so much of your time Pathfinder. I’m sure I can ask Bradley to find my missing people.”

“Someone’s missing?" He remembered Bradley outside yelling orders to set a perimeter around the colony and watchtowers on the ridge above them, along with asking about the status of their facilities. The man looked extremely busy and so Scott took pity on him. Besides, they don't have priority missions yet. "Hainly-can I call you Hainly?” She nodded. “Hainly, I want to help.”

She looked away from him and down, bowing her head slightly as she deliberated something. “Yes, some people are missing,” she said at last. “And I can’t pull out other workers to search for them because they’re busy making this colony work. I can’t go out myself since I’m still recovering.”

“Recovering? Are you sick?”

“No,” she said sharply. “Sorry,” she apologized for her tone. “I’m not sick. I’m just recovering from a major surgery. Organ transplants. I’m still getting used to having a womb and dealing with the hormones. Anyway, I was cleared to do office work but not heavy tasks like traipsing around in the desert searching for missing people.”

“Why would the doctors clear you to work with that status?”

“They can’t spare anyone else. A lot of people died so recovering or not, I have to go,” she answered and shrugged. “Besides, you’d be amazed at the tech here at the Initiative. They really overdid themselves. It's the reason why I joined the Initiative. I’ve got a cushy job back at the Alliance, helping them establish colonies in the Attican Traverse as part of their expansion plan. I was great at my job, and I didn’t understand why people would want to settle two million light years away when you can do it closer to home. But the Initiative offered something better than the Alliance. They offered me the chance to be true to myself. And they kept it. I’m living like I wanted to,” she said, her eyes brimming with happiness.

“You’d be willing to settle two million light years just for that?” he asked, in awe rather than criticism.

“Some people just can’t grasp the idea of being forced to live as someone else just because they were lucky not to experience it. The existential horror of it. Knowing who you are but people kept telling you you’re wrong, as if they knew you better than you knew yourself.” She sighed. “But I’m free of it now and I’m happy to live truly as I wished, even if it’s somewhere two million light years away from home.”

She didn’t need to inform them the details of the surgery, of the female reproductive organs made from her own cells and the implants that released and regulated the hormones her new organs need and the augments for her immune system which was dampened to reduce rejection. With those, no one can tell she was not born female, for she looked like one externally and internally. Only by examining her DNA will anyone know she was male once and once was called Stephen.

“Well, I’m glad you’ve found happiness here,” Scott said and he meant it. The Initiative was craving for good news and after all the problems they’ve encountered since arriving here, it was gratifying to hear about someone whose wish was already fulfilled.

“So, do I,” she said, beaming. “Anyway, those workers won’t find themselves.” She handed him a datapad where he saw a work crew with mixed members headed by someone named Jennings. “The work crew were assigned to test agriculture viability on a designated site just west of here. They did go and do it, but they keep talking about the Remnant tech. They think the Initiative's lying about how dangerous it is—that a couple of electrodes in the right place could get the Remnant to work for them instead. I dismissed it as absurd since we already have our own drones to do the manual labor. I told them to focus on their job and let other people more qualified than them to worry about it. But, it seems they’re more stubborn than I thought because days later, I found one of them in the med bay and the rest missing. Remnant Observers have carved Bharti up. Before he died, I asked him where the rest was. I got nothing else, only that Jennings told them they could live like kings if they had an army of Remnant bots working and fighting for us. He took the whole work crew to help him this time.”

Scott finished reading the datapad and handed it back to her. Not even a week and their colonists had broken away and doing their own thing. “Seems like this Jennings thought they could take control of a remnant.”

“That’s a really bad idea,” Cora seconded.

Hainly nodded. “The Initiative seemed to not care much in the type of colonists they’re getting,” she explained. “They seem to have taken all that could pay for the trip. So it’s up to us to wrangle them into the colonist we need them to be.”

“Alright, Hainly. I’ll look into this.”

“Thank you, Pathfinder. I suggest starting at the med bay and see whether you can find anything to trace where they went.”

They waved goodbye to Hainly and proceeded to the med bay at the other end of the colony. With their armor on and its environmental controls, they did not feel the sun's sharp rays bearing down on them and the sand hot beneath their feet, but they could see Eos' unbearable heat from the sizzling air above the ground as they walked. They reached the med bay and entered, the place not looking very different from Hainly's office except for the absence of desks which was replaced by beds and consoles. There were medical people in their red and white coats working around, and when they asked, they were directed by one to Bharti's corpse chilled in one of the lockers. The corpse was brought out and after being told of the cause of death, they were left alone to examine it. By analyzing the sand composition from the deceased Bharti’s boot, SAM was able to deduce that they came from the monolith they passed before, southeast of Podromos in the Fairwinds Basin. They drove there by the Nomad and once they arrived, they found a broken comm array on the floor with the corpses of some of the renegade colonists near it, their skin riddled with holes. The skin around the wounds were seared.

“Here we go,” Scott muttered, taking his gun out as they headed towards the bodies. At once, remnant bots appeared, as they expected. After fighting the remnant bots, Scott had SAM hack the broken comm array while the other two checked on the bodies and tagged them for extraction and burial. They listened in to the conversations the array was receiving.

“Easy money,” they heard a human say. “Once the electrical charge build up, we’ll have ourselves some nice obedient remnant.”

A turian scoffed at the other end and she said, “You better be sure this time, Jennings.”

“If you’re that spooked, go hide behind the four giants,” Jennings answered irritably. “I’m busy.” With that, the comm channel closed.

“We’ve got to find them before they get themselves killed,” Scott muttered. They went off to the Nomad and drove to the Four Giants, which were named because the four towering pillars of rock look like the mythical creatures of old. The pillars shaded a protrusion of the vault where remnant bots swarmed like bees around it. They were just in time, for Remnant bots were just about to overwhelm the work crew.

The work crew was huddled in one of the corners, screaming at the flanking bots when they arrived. At once, the Pathfinder team jumped out of the Nomad and opened fire at the bots to draw their attention away from the colonists. As Scott stripped the floating bots of their shields, Cora was charging all over the place, drawing the bots attention, turning their backs on the two, which made it easy either for Scott to snipe them or for Marcus to sneak behind them and bury an omni-blade in their backs.  

“Great timing. Thanks for the assist,” a human said to them after the firefight was over. He opened his helmet, revealing a clean shaved face with a bald head, dowsed with sweat and pale with subsiding fear. He smiled and offered a hand to shake, exceedingly happy at seeing another fellow human, but Scott glowered pointedly at the offered hand and crossed his arms instead.

“Looks like your experiment with the remnant didn’t work out,” Scott jeered.

Jennings stared at him, the smile on his lips fading, then withdrew the hand. “Hm-okay who squeaked?” he demanded, all affability gone. “Kasperek? Yeah, I bet.”

“Your boss Hainly asked me to look for you.”

“That damned tranny,” Jennings cursed. “These remnant could plow our fields, protect us from kett. And he-she-whatever don’t get it. Calls it low-priority and have someone more qualified to look into it. The Nexus should have made the overseer someone who’s got plenty of ideas.”

“Hey,” Scott called sharply. “Stop calling her that. If it wasn’t for her caring enough for your dumb ass to ask someone to look for you, you’d be dead.”

Jennings raised his hands up. “Fine. I’ll ease up on how I call Hainly. But I’m not giving up on the Remnant. You could control them. Why shouldn’t we?”

“Because I’ve got help from an incredibly advanced VI. And I have a team of specialists with me. Even then, we can only manage to open and close the doors and push some buttons. We can’t program the Remnant bots to stop shooting at us. So drop it, Jennings; if I can’t make the remnant work for me then you can’t.”

Jennings stared at him then he snarled. “I can't believe this. You, the fucking pathfinder, wouldn’t even try and won't let others to do it.”

“Because it gets a lot of people killed, Jennings. Far too many people died because of your idea. And if you still don’t believe that lives are important after all that, we can go to the vault right now, stick you in and see if your idea works.”

“Pathfinder’s got a point,” the turian beside Jennings said. “How many people need to get hurt before you stop this?”

Jennings stared at her then at Scott, whose face never showed any sign of being merciful. “Eh, fine,” he said in exasperation, throwing his hands up. “But you can’t protect us all the time, Pathfinder. Out here, we need every edge we can get.”

“That’s for Bradley and your boss Hainly to decide,” Scott said dismissively. Jennings glared at him but he stared him down until Jennings was encouraged to look away first. “Learn to follow first, Jennings, before you try to lead.”


	14. Chapter 14

They were packing up when his attention was caught by something in the dunes. Perhaps it was because of the dry brush swaying softly in the breeze and beside it, an odd-looking branch. Scott squinted at it. Sometimes the planet liked to play tricks on them with its mirages. He stood there, squinting for a while longer, when he realized that what he was seeing was not a mirage; there really was a foot buried in the sand.

He went to the spot and squatted over the thing. A dark, desiccated foot was poking out from the ground. He looked at the bowed shins and the hoof-like foot with two cloven toes and said, “Guys, I found a dead salarian here.”

Cora and Marcus stopped tending to the injured work crew and went over to see what he found. “One of ours?” Cora asked, peering down at the foot.

Scott shrugged. “Let’s find out.”

They dug out the sand until they uncovered the body completely. It was intact, without animal or insect bites, but mummified. It was wearing a soiled, thin silver body suit of the Initiative. Scott opened his scanner and scanned the corpse, which told him that the body was male, middle-aged and dead by gunshots.

They called Jennings over who was dejectedly packing up his things. When he was near enough, he asked, “This one of yours?”, nodding at the body.

Jennings walked closer to the body and peered down at it. After a few minutes, he shook his head. “I don’t know all the salarians back at the colony but I’m sure they never wore that uniform there,” he said, pointing at the corpse’s thin silvery suit with the Initiative’s logo at the breast. “Besides, the face’s all black and…” he made a motion of his wrist where the skin on the corpse’s face were drawn taut, showing the points of hardened cartilage and the lips pulled back, revealing snarling teeth.

“Analysis complete,” SAM interrupted. “From the scans of his teeth, I can say with 90% certainty that this is Judern Silben, Initiative Founder.”

They all gaped at each other then at the body in front of them.

“Well, shit,” Scott said, speaking for them all.

* * *

They brought the body to the Nexus which had more advanced facilities than the colony and turned it over to Sloane. She had gone with it to the medical bay while they were told to wait in her office.

Her office was just at the opposite of Kesh’s office at the operations deck, below the platform where Addison was coordinating the daily tasks of the station. The last time they entered it, it was merely a room with stacked crates at the back. Now, there was a second level, with a reception desk beside the door at the ground floor and a coffee table on an elevated platform beside it, then a conference room with a round table at the landing before it twisted again and led to Sloane’s enclosed office. They were directed by the receptionist to that room and were asked to sit on the chairs and provided refreshments as they waited for her.

Their mugs were empty and the biscuits were long gone before the door opened again and finally, Sloane arrived. “At last. We’re getting somewhere,” she announced when the door closed behind her.

“What did you find?” Scott asked as Sloane walked around them to sit behind her desk. She sank into the soft cushion with a sigh.

“They can’t tell when exactly Silbern died but based on their disappearance, about a year ago. Two shots from the front, one to the head then chest. Through and through, so no bullets. No signs of burns around the wounds either, so not lasers. Mass accelerated rounds, semi-large so a pistol or a rifle. He was also wearing armor based on the debris embedded around the wound. Did you find his things with him down there?”

“No. We just found him with the bodysuit. We didn’t find his armor anywhere. But we’re not sure if anything else is buried since we didn’t sift the sand around the body,” Scott said.

Sloane put a hand at the back of her neck and rubbed it. “That’s all for now. I guess I’ll be going down at Eos to investigate, then. Did you follow procedure?”

“I had the site cordoned off and a watch set over it,” Scott said evenly, careful not to let his resentment at being treated like a child bleed over his tone. He hasn’t forgotten yet what she said during the party after the activation of the vault.

She just nodded, not showing any awareness over her tone. Or maybe she did intended to treat him like an idiot. “Any sign of Tempest One?”

“Tempest what?”

“Tempest One,” she repeated. “It’s the first Tempest. Yours is the second until we ran out of materials to build the others. The Tempest series was supposed to serve as the pathfinder’s ships but the founders borrowed it when they set out since the arks were delayed.” 

“No. We didn’t see any ship there,” he answered softly because his mind was on something else. _Seriously? They’re building cutting edge ships only now?_ “I’m sorry. You’re building ships now when we could have used it earlier?”

Her eyes narrowed slightly at him. “The Nexus and the arks didn’t need to have a heavy escort since they can outrun and outlast anything we know of. So, they’re just equipped with light armaments to reduce weight and consumption of our eezo supply. Besides, Jien Garson didn’t want leaks of her inventions going out. If they were pre-built, there’d be a lot of people knowing about it. You’d be dead sure the whole galaxy would know about it before those ships are even completed.”

“Fine,” he said, dropping the point. The Tempest was a stealth ship and built for observation, not a straight up fight. It would do well for recon but just strapping some guns with its light armor won't turn it into the warship they need.

“It’d be difficult to pick up the trail since it happened so long ago,” Sloane continued. “But I’ll inform you as soon as I find anything else down there. So, any other questions?”

“Any word on the arks?”

She shook her head. “Nothing yet. Our QECs were damaged beyond repair. As for contacting the Milky Way, we tried to use the QEC at Hyperion but apparently, it wasn't working."

Scot went still. “How do you mean it isn’t working?”

Sloane put up her hands. "We're not receiving any answers. Either no one is looking after it or the QEC there was destroyed."

Scott frowned. “Not answering? Do you think they forgot about us after all those years travelling through dark space?”

“Maybe. It’s crazy what people can get up to after a few hundred years,” she answered and shrugged. “We’ll have to wait for the techs to solve that problem. But for now, we’ll just have to act as if we’re alone out here. Anything else?”

Scott looked at his companions who shook their head. “I guess that’s all for now,” he said, and they rose out of their seats.

“Inform me if you find something like this again during your travels,” she said. Then her brow furrowed, and she pinched her lips hard while she gave a glare at her desk that can melt steel. Scott was about to turn away when she suddenly spat out, “You’ve done well finding Silben.”

Scot’s jaw nearly dropped. “Er…thank you?” he said in surprise. She said it stiffly, but still __she said it__.

She nodded, then went looking from extremely embarrassed to annoyed and shooed them away with a sharp wave of her hand. “Now get out of my sight,” she said and turned sideways to face the wall.

When the door closed behind them and they started walking down the stairs, Marcus chuckled. “Did I hear that right? Did she just…compliment you?” he said, glancing back at the office.

“I know, right? The cranky bitch played nice today,” Scott said, glancing back too.

“Careful now. At this rate, you just might end up as best friends,” Marcus teased him.

Scott turned forward and shuddered. “Please don’t. I’m gonna have nightmares about that.”

* * *

They rode the Tempest back to Eos. Though they had the navigational data of the mysterious planet given by the vault, they saw that they could not pursue that lead, because Bradley requested their help. They needed to erect a listening tower at the cliffs overlooking the outpost and a watch station. Someone with a sniper rifle on that ridge and with a good aim can pick off the people below like fish in the barrel.

They had a long day, so Scott went for a shower and a rest in his cabin. Free of the grime from work with his muscles relaxed from the long, hot shower, he spread himself on his luxurious bed and, as the stars passed overhead in the fake ceiling, he reviewed the events that transpired today.

The discovery of the salarian founder made him remember about Ben. He loved his uncle dearly, but he wouldn’t join him during mealtimes. Ben’s taste was too weird for his liking. For example, he took afternoon tea. He would have joined him gladly, since he doesn’t have the stomach for coffee, but it wasn’t tea and crumpets. It’s tea and squid. Or whatever monstrosity they could fish from the ocean. That was the problem. Ben loved his native food which was not to everyone’s taste.

Unlike Western cuisine where ingredients are processed extensively with techniques such as braising and poaching, Japanese cuisine is all about natural taste and the fresher, the better. And sometimes it’s so fresh because it’s just off the limb.

He remembered the time when he was a dumb kid and they nearly had a falling out over it. On Ben’s 50th birthday, they went to his favorite Japanese Restaurant of course. The place had a modern design but still has that characteristic minimalist aesthetic. Lots of free space but elegant despite the sparseness of decor. They were seated over a low table on cushions with the floor underlit beneath them. The chairs and tables were made of the expensive black wood that shine like it was lacquered. The walls were of soft orange with a texture of paper and yellow accents on the dividers and liquor display behind the bar and as illumination in the dim room.

Ben ordered some sort of special beef, among others, with a hefty price tag equivalent to the price of a Ruzaad shotgun, while the Ryders ordered barbecues and chicken teriyaki.

The food arrived and he looked over to what Ben had ordered to see the food that cost an arm and a limb.

It was slices of beef fanned on a slab of porcelain plate, with sauce poured artfully on one side.

His jaw fell in shock. Not only was it served plainly, it’s also raw. It was just glistening there, shiny with the white fat marbling on the bright red flesh.

Then he remembered they ordered a barbecue so as his parents and Ben talked, he took the initiative to man the grill, happily adding Ben’s pile to the sizzling meats. As soon as he was done, he transferred it back to the plate and presented it to his adopted Uncle.

“Happy Birthday, Ben,” he said, presenting it with a flourish.

Ben broke away from their discussion to stare at what Scott had done to his food. He looked at it as if Scott had just served him his firstborn, a look mirrored by the waiter across from them, who turned to his fellow waiters until the chef came out and gaped at them. All of them looked about to eat their hats.   

“Is there a problem?” Scott asked, divining that something was wrong.

Ben tore his eyes away from it to stare at Scott with those woeful eyes. He blinked several times before his face returned to being unreadable. This made Scott feel bad. But Ben picked up his chopsticks and sampled one of it. “It’s quite good,” he pronounced.

Scott beamed and he went back to manning the grill, not a little perturbed by the appearance of Ben’s British accent.

Alex also picked one up and sampled it. “This is good,” he pronounced. He smacked his slips. “It’s fatty, though. I don’t know why this cost so much. Next time, Hide, maybe you should choose a steakhouse that serves good meat,” he said, calling his friend by his middle name, Hideaki, but shortened.

Ben inclined his head slightly. “I’ll bear that in mind,” he murmured, his accent stronger than ever.

“Now, let’s just enjoy the meal, shall we?” Ellen said with the same British accent, her eyes twinkling with merriment. “They do care about you, Ben,” she said, shooting Ben with a sympathetic glance for her well-meaning but not very perceptive men. “Too much, it seems.”

Alec and Scott looked at her perplexed, but it was only later that Scott understood when Sara explained to him that he was not supposed to grill the meat.

“You’re supposes to eat it sliced thin and raw,” she hissed when they got home.

He looked at her with horror. “Raw?”

“It’s Ben so..” she shrugged and left him there stewing in horror, both at what he’d just avoided eating and what he’d done to his uncle.

He did make up for it afterwards and Ben had told him not to mind it too much (in a neutral accent). And then the incident, instead of just being an embarrassing memory, became a secret joke between them. Whenever Scott had a fight with someone, he would refer to it as “having a beef” and Ben would crack up and they would start laughing.  

* * *

 

“I can’t stop thinking about what you did with the Advent. To be honest, that’s kind of a dick move,” Marcus commented as he, Scott and Cora were installing the seismic hammer in the plain beyond Podromos to solve the water problems of the outpost. The planet had finally cooled enough to tolerable levels but there’s still no rain. There’s a lot of shakes happening though. Small ones, not strong enough to damage their buildings but it did make the colonists reconsider about settling permanently, what with the aliens beyond the mountains still sitting pretty in their pretty little dome.

Then the colony found there’s an aquifer deep in the soil. Whether they have the vault to thank for it, they didn’t know but they were grateful. They were also fast to seize it while it’s there.

“You side with those opportunistic free-loaders?” Scott scoffed. The Advent were a group of human exiles who one day decided to settle on the now viable Eos and compete with Podromos on the use of its resources. They also had the gall to declare independence from the Nexus, expressing their distaste at working with other aliens. They couldn’t make them go back to the fold by force because well, they’re the good guys. Besides, everyone’s busy surviving that they don’t have the time, money and effort to start a war on people doing the same thing while the aliens over the mountains loom over them all. Curiously, the aliens were not attacking when they could have wiped them out easily. They were hanging in the vicinity of the vault, hidden, but never entering the remnant structure. They only acted when one of them wandered into their territory so for now, they steered clear of the vault, despite their scientists wishing to get in it and study the outer chambers as the central chamber has sealed and refused to open even for SAM.

Though they thought that strange, they were grateful for it and also smart enough to realize not to start a fuss that can attract them.

“The way I see it, everyone wins,” Scott grumbled as he fiddled with the third seismic hammer with his omni-tool. “We get the water, they get the gas. Besides, did they really expect that we would allow them to get the water so we can tap the gas for them to mine and trade it to us?”

“If you put it that way…”

Scott tapped on more buttons before continuing, “If I was a dick, that’s because they were a dick. I just out-dicked them.”

Marcus put up his hands. “Chill. I get you.”

They stood back and watched as the seismic hammer did its job. It buzzed loudly as it dug into the hard-packed earth, sending dust around them rising into the air. The sun overhead beat hard on them, taxing their suit’s environmental controls but they could do nothing but stand patiently, as the flora of the planet offered little protection for weary travelers. They can stop hoping for shade in Eos, as the trees either look like fan corals or else like blue broccoli with an uneven head. And that’s just before they activated the vault and changed the planet irrevocably. Now, the trees looked like the faded and desiccated versions of themselves.

“Show’s over, I think. Let’s go home; it’s been a long day,” Scott said, his mind already on a cold shower back at the Tempest when the ground started shaking, every tremor growing powerful.

“What’s happening?” Marcus said, as he fell on his knees and spread out his arms over the shaking ground.

“I don’t know!” Scott answered, dropping also to his knees.  “SAM, any ideas?”

It seems they didn’t need SAM, as their answer burst out of the ground about fifty meters to their right. It kept going, going, going into the sky because it’s a giant…..robot…worm.

Their mouths dropped open as they looked at it, the segmented arms running up, up, up into a humongous head with pincers, as dark as Remnant tech and its lights glowing brightly and angrily. It turned its head this way and that, showing them its fiery maw with sharp teeth whirring around, looking like a mouth of a serrated worm. Staring at it, they forgot the shaking ground and the infernal scream it’s putting out. As it screamed again, they started moving.

“What the fuck did you do, Ryder?” Marcus hissed as they unstrapped their weapons and ran on jelly legs to a bunch of rocks for cover.

“What the fuck do you think, Zola? You were right there!” Scott hissed back as he dropped behind a rock.

“Damn it! Can you two stop playing around and focus on that thing right there!” Cora shouted as her biotics charged up her arms.

“Now what?” Marcus asked, training his sights on the creature.

They watched it wiggle from side to side, mud dripping from its head as the ground bubbled at its base. The fifty foot behemoth towered over the landscape, screeching as it turned its head around, mud plopping and splashing around it, as if searching for….something. Or someone. Some people. Some very dumb people.

“Nobody move,” Scott whispered as they stared at it, his mouth dry as they realized what it was doing, hoping that the creature saw them merely as odd-looking rocks. Just part of the landscape...

It swung its great head around, sweeping over the land, its massive shadow falling over them once, until it seemed it did not find what it was looking for so it turned towards…Podromos.

The giant arc at the middle of the colony was peeking out of the cliff and gleaming in the mid-day sun, catching the worm’s attention.

They turned towards the colony too and gaped when the worm started moving in that direction. “Shit! That stupid worm’s decided for us! We need to stop it before it reaches the colony!” Scott yelled and they ran towards the Nomad, stumbling and tripping due to the ground being shaken by the worm’s tread.  

“Not as stupid as the human who woke it,” Marcus fired back as he pulled himself onto the driver’s seat while the others slid onto the Nomad.

“Rag on me later. If we live through this,” Scott said at the back as Marcus stepped on the accelerator. The Nomad screeched and shot off across the plain, leaping over gullies, boulders and wildlife until it ran alongside the beast.  Scott opened the door. “Cora, can I have the missile?”

“In a minute!” she answered as she rummaged at the back. She finally drew out a Cobra missile and handed the disk missile off to Scott. Scott put it above his omnitool, where it programmed its trajectory. He aimed it and fired.

The beast screeched as the missile hit one of its legs. It was still going for the outpost, but it was slowing down, its arc becoming higher and higher. Then it dove through the ground, shaking it, rocks and dust plumes rising high into the air and it disappeared.

“Think we scared it off?” Scott asked the two as the Nomad circled around to the hole the creature made.

Then suddenly, the ground shook again and then the creature burst to where they were moments before. They screamed as the Nomad bounced from the heaving ground and Marcus pushed the Nomad hard as boulders flew around them.

“4 o’clock! 4 o’clock!” Scott yelled, looking at the screen where the camera at the back was recording their tail. The Nomad turned left and Scott ducked instinctively as a boulder bounced on their left.

The ground around them started cracking and rising, which made the Nomad bounce as it traveled over them.

Scoot looked back and watched in dismay as a spray of rocks was about to drop on them. He yelled but a biotic shield appeared overhead and the rocks bounced away.

 “Thanks, Cora,” Scott said, his voice shaking. “SAM, can you track it?”

“Yes. It seems it should appear about sixty meters ahead of you,” SAM droned.

“Right!” Marcus said and swerved hard to the right. The creature burst from the ground a moment later.

“Pathfinder, I have scanned the creature and identified several structural weaknesses. Disabling them would separate the links of its body. Your missiles would be sufficient for the task,” SAM said.

“Thanks, SAM. Marcus?”

“On it,” Marcus said and drove closer to the creature, circling it. It watched them and tried to strike down with its maw but it was too slow going down and getting up. At least it did not hide back into the ground.

Scott unloaded several missiles along with Cora. With SAM’s targeting, they blasted away the nodes keeping the creature intact as Marcus drove the Nomad and they wove in and out and around it. The creature screamed and with one final explosion, it fell apart.

As its parts fell around them, the Nomad raced away from it as fast as possible. An arm fell in front of them, draping across their way and corralling them, so the Nomad had to swerve and follow alongside it, dust obscuring their way, enveloping them. Then a shadow appeared on their way, its outline the same as the creatures’ head and getting longer.

“We’re not going to make it!” Marcus said. But Cora yelled, “Drive straight ahead and drop it when I told you to!” She stretched her hand out the Nomad quickly unleashed a singularity before them. She ducked her hand back in quickly and said, “Now!”

 Marcus boosted the Nomad to jump, just in time to pass through the singularity. The Vehicle floated up, but Marcus boosted it again so it was flipping over and up the boulder and moving faster. It was just in time, as the head crashed behind them. It flipped in the air until the biotic field disappeared and Marcus timed it to crash down onto the ground, wheels down. The tires screeched as the Nomad drove off again, parts of the creature’s arms falling behind round them and the massive head bouncing. The head then exploded which sent debris towards them.

 With parts chasing them, Marcus accelerated.

 The Nomad swerved from side to side, avoiding the burning metal flying behind them. Then a clump suddenly buried in front of them, prompting Marcus to turn the wheel-right? Unbelievably, it made the Nomad swirl left, tires screeching, its back almost clipping the blockage, until it faced it again and made a full stop. Inside, they stared at the metal inches from the Nomad’s nose as the other parts tumbled on beyond them.

 When it finally stopped, Scott opened the door and climbed down the Nomad. He wobbled for a few steps forward then collapsed drunkenly on the side of their car. Cora and Marcus climbed out and joined him at watching the smoking remains of the creature.

 They stood looking at it for a few more minutes, then Marcus said, “From this day onward, I’m going to call the ‘doing something simple and then out pops a giant creature’ a ‘seismic hammer’.”

 As they stood looking at the smoking remains, far away a light twinkled. A light reflected from a monocle.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to szierera for beta-reading this


	15. Chapter 15

They were driving around the central lake after putting up beacons, satellite towers and investigating missing supplies apparently carried away by Eos’ surviving giant green beetles when they suddenly heard gunfire behind them. SAM informed them of the alien’s dropship nearby and that the aliens seem to be attacking somebody. Marcus turned the Nomad around to see if it was one of their people and parked close to pillars of rocks, where they went into position to observe.

Scott perched his Valkyrie on a rock and peered through his scope to see the fighting before them. There was a lone figure running away from a group of the aliens they knew. He focused on the one, who seemed to have the same body type as the aliens in pursuit. However, it had a different colored armor with a flowing…cape?

He adjusted his scope to see closer when the figure…vanished.

He drew back, blinked then returned to watch, looking for it until he saw it appear behind one of the aliens. Its friends opened their mouths to screech and then they bounded after it, guns spraying, as their friend fell with green blood spurting from its back.

“I detect no Milky way races present. However, I observe that the configuration of the hands of the new alien correspond to the marks on the console back at the vault,” SAM said, analyzing the scene through Scott’s eyes.

Marcus looked up from his Revenant’s scope. “You mean down there’s our mysterious alien?”

“That is probable.”

Scott looked at Marcus and Cora. “Should we?” Cora asked, titling her head at it.

Scott handed Marcus his Black Widow and said to Cora, “Let’s go.”

They went back in the Nomad and raced to the scene of the fighting. The dropship turned towards them and fired missiles. The Nomad swerved and swayed, evading it, until it was close enough and Scott opened his door and aimed the Cobra missile at it. The disk spun towards the dropship where it emitted a cloud over itself as it veered away but the missile curved, following it. It crashed into its underbelly, tearing it in half. The dropship exploded, its parts raining down.  

The Nomad circled back, and they parked it near to the lake’s edge and disembarked. They started shooting at the aliens, using the Nomad as cover. The aliens turned to shoot at them but the unknown one suddenly appeared and buried its knife on its back. Then it threw a handful of grenades at the others and leaped away as the ground burst in explosions.

Scot and Cora helped the new alien overcome its attackers. Cora went ahead and charged, sending one of them flying as she turned her Disciple shotgun to the face of the other and fired. Scott peeked on the side of the Nomad, raised his rifle, aimed at the alien in the air and fired. The alien dropped and did not stand again. The last one tried to run but was shot dead by the three of them. With their last enemy dead, they turned their weapons at each other.

“Whoa!” Scott said, raising his weapon as the alien pointed it at him. “We meant no harm.”

The alien looked at him with its pair of eyes, one covered with visor much like a monocle. It was bipedal and similar to the body type of human males, with wide shoulders & narrow hips. Its head was covered with a reinforced dome, with sort of cowl like a cobra’s ran from its head, down to the sides of its neck and ending inside its chest. Its legs were slightly splayed and the calves bent back.

It was also very colorful. Its skin was rubbery looking and translucent, similar to salarian skin but colored light purple with speckles of light. It was wearing a sort of blue silk caftan over its dark blue armor, softly floating and shimmering every time the wind passed through it. Its face reminded them of a cat: eyes a brilliant sky blue with slits for pupils but with a dark sclera and a broad straight, feline nose.

And it’s staring at them like it caught a mouse.

Scott glanced at Cora, who answered with a tiny nod. Then he turned his gun so he held on it by its middle then slowly held it out. The alien shifted uncomfortably, glancing at him and Cora until Scott dropped his gun.

He wasn’t sure if the alien might interpret it as a challenge, but he hoped it wouldn’t. He hoped that the alien will interpret it as a sign of peace.

The alien looked at the gun at his feet, sniffed at it then turned its attention back to them. Then it spoke.  “What…are you doing?” it asked.

Scott’s jaw dropped inside his helmet. “You…speak our language?”

“My translator does,” it said, its voice sounding like a deep purr. “We have met your people before.”

Scott looked at Cora, who looked as baffled as he was. Scott made as if to scratch his head, but remembered he’s wearing a helmet and so put it down quickly. “Then you understand that we meant you no harm.”

“No.”

 Scott blinked at the alien. Surely if they met their people before, then they would understand that dropping their weapon or holding their empty hands up were signs of non-aggression.  “I…am not sure I understand.”

“Your people came here without warning, then go from world to world taking what you can. So I do not believe you when you say you meant us no harm.”

Scott shut his eyes and mentally cursed the exiles. It was very likely now that their first contact had not gone peacefully. “I can explain,” he said, looking earnestly at the alien. “The people you’ve met? They’re not us. They’re different.”

“Are they?” It examined them again, its eye glinting behind the monocle.

“Yes. Those were desperate people and some bad ones. While we came in peace and are willing to work with you.”

The alien did not answer and still looked suspiciously at them, so Scott changed tack. “Are you alone? Where are your people?”

The alien hesitated. “I am not from here.”

“From another world then?”

“Yes.”

“Then can you take us to your leader and let them see us for themselves? So we can explain that we really meant no harm?”

“Yes. But if you do, you must come without your people knowing,” it said, waving its gun at the direction of Podromos then at the sky. It knew about the Nexus.

Cora turned to Scott. “Scott….” she warned, the rest of her sentence completed with a look.

Scott acknowledged it and turned back to the alien. “There must be some way we can talk about this. If we’re gone, they’ll worry. Can we leave something to tell them we’re gone for a while we’re gone so they won’t worry at least?”

“No. if your intentions are pure, then you will do it. If not, then there is nothing more to talk about and I leave,” it insisted.

Scott stared at him, looking to see if it would back down. It didn’t.

“If you really came in peace, then you will come,” it said with a finality.

Scott looked at him some more and said, “Fine.” He opened his channel. “Marcus, you can come out now,” he said, where Marcus popped out from his hiding place, ready to provide them cover should the alien prove hostile. “We need to go on a detour.”

The alien lowered its gun. “My name is Jaal Ama Derav and I am of the Angara.”

“I’m Scott Ryder, a human. This is Marcus Zola and Cora Harper,” he said, nodding at the two.

The alien looked over them all. It was hard to tell what it thought as it examined them, its pupils shrunk to slits and its body still, as its caftan fluttered softly behind it. Then it said, “Follow me then, humans,” and turned his back to walk away.

Scott wondered whether it was being naive or it decided to trust them when it turned its back to them. But they followed behind it. “Where are we going?” Scott asked as he jogged to be alongside it, matching its lunging gait.

“To the place of our people. Aya.”

* * *

 

The alien led them to its shuttle. Along the way, it clarified that he was male and the aliens they were fighting against were called Kett. Scott asked what Kett meant and Jaal answered that they don’t know; the Kett called themselves that when they met their people and never explained it.

They arrived at a plateau above the lake and where his shuttle, a black and white thing with a rounded body, small fins at the back and thrusters at the front, was hidden. Scott looked below them and saw the place was a good vantage point for observing them. He could see miles and miles of the land before them and to his right, the opening to Podromos. Jaal called his attention to them and said they should board, but Scott argued with him that he needed his whole team and ship. They argued back and forth until finally, the alien agreed to lead his ship to Aya.

They left Eos and sailed towards the Onaon system, thinking with a pang that they'd be passing the Nexus without so much as a greeting. When Kallo announced that they’re just within one light year of the system, Cora quietly sidled near Scott.

“I don’t feel good about this, Scott,” Cora said to him. “Are you sure we’re not walking into a trap?”

“We did aim to have peaceful contact with possible natives here,” Scott answered. “These are their terms.”

“I know, but-is this important enough to risk our safety?”

“If we don’t follow him, then we might have made enemies which we can’t afford to have since we don’t know much about here. And besides, they may be the ones who left traces back at the Eos vault. Maybe they were the builders and they can tell us more about it?”

Cora just shook her head, her fringe sweeping across her nose. “I don’t know,” she confessed and sighed. “But we’re here now so I guess we should prepare for anything that might happen.”

“Good idea.”

“Uh, Ryder?” Kallo interrupted, a little panic stricken. “Further on is the…Shroud.”

Scott stared at the screen where the twinkling, distorted star field typical of the Shroud’s presence greeted them. “Suvi, open a channel to the alien shuttle,” he instructed sharply.

She tapped on her console and said, “Channel opened.”

“Yes?” Jaal answered.

Scott rounded on him. “You’ve led us into a trap!”

“No. Our destination is beyond that cloud,” Jaal answered calmly.

“We can’t get through that!”

There was a pause. “You…can’t?” he asked, surprised. "Then how did you get here then?"

“Long story but our ships didn't arrive here intact. Look, I don’t know what tech you have, but ours cannot get through that.”

There was another pause. “Then we have a problem. Wait for my instructions,” he said and closed the line.

“Yellow alert,” Scott said, and the klaxon blared. His crew was scrambling behind the bridge and Marcus later reported that all stations were ready.

They waited for minutes in tense silence. Finally, Jaal’s shuttle hailed them and his face appeared on the screen. “I will ask an escort to come here shortly and help you pass. We’ll have to surround you with our ships so we can continue on to Aya.”

“Surround us?” Scott asked, fear tickling in. “And that will help us pass through it? How?”

“You will see,” Jaal said simply and confidently.

Scott fell silent, still eyeing the screen with suspicion.

“This isn’t what we talked about, Jaal,” he said.

“Your inability to move through the Shroud isn’t what we expected.”

Scott went silent as he weighed his proposal. He started to doubt the whole thing. It seemed Jaal did not tell them everything and he regretted going with him, now that he said more of his people will be coming. The reason why he insisted on taking his own ship was that if worse came to worst, they wouldn’t have to depend on working on an alien ship to escape. But his precaution was now rendered deficient since they will be outnumbered if it led to a fight. “Alright, Jaal,” he decided, chewing his lip as he thought about what they could do if this becomes a worst-case scenario.

Jaal closed the line then the screen showed his shuttle move forward to the Shroud. They felt a brief sense of alarm as it shot through it then awe when they saw a field surround it, showing normal starlight around the shuttle. Then the Shroud enveloped it completely, until the space returned to its distorted form once more.

“Is he…dead?” Suvi whispered as they stared at the empty screen. They waited for Jaal to appear again and as the time lengthened with no shuttle in sight, Scott wondered if the alien was just playing a game with them.

Spots appeared on the Shroud, where the light passing through was not distorted and showing clearly the other end of the galaxy. Then it vanished then Kallo informed them that unknown ships had decloaked and surrounded them. One of them hailed the Tempest.

“Tove jagalesh do!” a voice harshly demanded which Kallo said was from the foremost frigate, its outline roughly that of a whale shark. Their hulls were painted black and white, but the colors were shimmering as if about to transform into other colors. 

 “We’re visitors from another galaxy. Our intentions are peaceful,” Scott answered. He heard Jaal explain something in their language.

There was a brief silence before they heard the voice again. Jaal said that they should prepare to be surrounded as agreed.

The screen showed the frigates coming closer to them, then aligning alongside them. The ships were placed with one each at their top, bottom and sides roughly abreast of them then another group at the tail end but placed diametrically at the sides. The frigate at the topmost of the formation barked an instruction to move forward and keep up with their speed. Kallo glanced worriedly at Scott, who nodded. The salarian muttered something under his breath as he tapped on his console. The group moved forward slowly, until the whole screen was filled with the distorted star field, the only sign showing the presence of the Shroud.

As the foremost ship went nearer to it, they instinctively leaned back, expecting immediate disintegration as it approached, only to find it parting before them. The alien ship seemed to generate a negating field around it which overlapped with the next ship and so on. The overlapping fields also covered the Tempest, so not a particle of the Shroud (or whatever it was made of) had touched their ship.

After clearing the Shroud, the ships spread out from the Tempest. They had just enough time for the wonder to subside, when they beheld before them a dark gray colored planet with angry red streaks like spiderwebs running on it. When they were close enough to see the surface, they found that the red streaks were lava flows and realized that the planet was highly volcanic. Their shuttle flew around it, getting closer to a moon where ships like little bees swarmed. They thought this was Aya, until their escort passed it by. They were close enough to see artificial structures on the surface, which Scott guessed to be defense installations with the moon serving as the planet’s defense system.  

He turned his attention back to the planet. He was puzzled as to why they chose an apparently barren and volatile planet as their place, until they arrived at the light side of the planet and saw a little bubble shining on one side, like a mole ringed by ring of mountains and partly hidden by low hanging clouds. They followed their escorts as it descended to this patch. When they broke through the dark clouds, they saw a giant… tree?

Trees, actually, they saw as they moved closer. A forest covered by a shield bubble. The bubble then formed an opening on the side for them to pass through. Jaal was on the line again and advised them to drop lower and in line with the opening. They went inside and passed through the narrow pillars generating the bubble. There was another bubble they had to pass through and as they came nearer to the city, they saw it was not trees at all, but towers in the shape of trees. The towers were cylindrical unlike the rectangular shapes their skyscrapers had or Illium’s sharp and narrow ones. There were interweaving branches that were actually highways, canopies that were roofs like overturned leaves on roads that looked like flat branches which were held up with supports underneath or else suspended with arches and wires to the main beam.

The city was dappled, with shade and light playing on its interior. There was light running on the sides while the towers in shadow glowed soft cool colors and towers in sunlight glowed a pearly white with traces of color underneath. There were also brightly colored holograms hanging in the air showing what looked like advertisements with faces or figures of Angara moving on its surface while an alien language scrolled.

It was breathtaking.

“It's… beautiful,” Scott said in awe, forgetting the fear they felt at being taken to an unknown place. Suvi and Kallo agreed silently, looking just as enthralled as he as they looked at the screen.

Jaal went online again and told them to set down to a landing pads atop one of the towers before the inner entrance. 

Scott cast one last look at the city, then turned to go. “Here’s to hoping they are friendly,” he said with a shrug to those assembled at the research station before the cargo bay. He was about to pass through the door when Vetra suddenly blocked his way.  “Please, you’re not really going out there on your own,” she said, arms crossed. Cora followed and said from behind, “We can’t risk our Pathfinder alone out there. What if something happens to you? What will happen to our mission then?” She shook her head then held out her hands in front of her, as if to block him. “It’s too risky. No, it’s better if anyone goes on your behalf. I’m willing to do that.”

“Thanks for your concern, Cora but this is our first interaction with the Angara. We shouldn't act as if we're not treating them seriously. Besides, Jaal said I can take two people with me so if it turns ass up, we could at least fight our way out,” Scott said.

“Who are you going to take?” Cora asked.

“I’m taking Marcus and Vetra. It’s best if you stay, Cora, in case something happens. If it does, I trust you to act as the situation demands.”

She searched his face and saw his conviction there, so she nodded. Marcus and Vetra joined him as he went down onto the loading area. Gil poked his head from the engineering doors and as they passed and he whispered, “Be careful Ryder. We don’t know what they will do.”

 


	16. Chapter 16

“The atmosphere is breathable for you. You will not need your helmets,” Jaal said on their line, as Scott and his team waited before the cargo bay doors. Marcus and Vetra looked at Scott. He acknowledged it and asked SAM for confirmation.

“He is correct,” SAM concurred, feeding Kallo and Suvi’s findings from the Tempest sensors through their omni-tools. “The atmosphere is not poisonous to races present. Though there is a lower oxygen content in the air, it is enough to remain conscious. I will adjust the rate of your oxygen absorption as soon as you disembark.”

“What about Marcus and Vetra?” Scott asked.

“I think I’m going to be fine,” Marcus said, reading SAM’s readouts from his omnitool. “It’s just like setting down on high altitude places.”

“Same here,” Vetra said, looking at the same readouts. “It’s like I’m back on Palaven.”

Scott looked up at Gil on the railing above them and nodded. He nodded back and opened the cargo bay doors. They walked out of the Tempest and into the bright sunshine. Scott squinted at the bright light, and his eyes adjusted, he saw Jaal’s people meet them on the walkway, armed and armored.

One of them in a dark colored armor stepped forward. “Tas gooj yobe jenvad,” he asked.  His friend joined him and ran a scan on them. “Tos global tam yehal?”

Jaal had, by this time joined them, coming from his shuttle parked beside the Tempest, and answered his compatriots in their own language. Then he turned to them. “Your ship will not be able to fit into the city. You will have to go in mine.”

He was right; beyond were interlocking roads and pipes that would severely limit the Tempest’ maneuverability. Besides, if they were to escape, The Tempest would have to be someplace open, not in a place with a lot of obstacles. No; it is better for it to stay here just outside the city limits just in case.

So they transferred to Jaal’s shuttle, the other Angara looking over to them to see that they obeyed, before going into their own shuttles.

The inside of the shuttle was large, able to hold all of the Tempest crew. There were two rows of seats back to back. The wall at one hand held a locker and at the other end was a door to the cockpit. Scott wondered why Jaal had a shuttle so roomy when he was just by himself then forgot about that when some of their escorts went in with them, sitting beside them or else joining Jaal at the cockpit.  When they’re ready, Jaal steered the shuttle off the landing pad and through the city.

They passed on the side of some of the towers. Through the windows, Scott saw on the sides of the towers were wide balconies with Angara walking by with bags or eating in the open-air sections of restaurants, shaded by blue or green wavy roofs, their attention absorbed with their companions in front of them or else turning their heads to stare at their procession with idle curiosity. Through the glass side of the towers, he saw compartments with people moving in it, with tables and chairs and screens in front of their desks. They were working in offices apparently. He then guessed that the “bark” of the tree tower was actually sets of apartments curving around it.

Connecting the towers were train lines which passed through nodes on the buildings in intervals. The lines snake through the city, winding up or down. Inside the compartments, he could see Angara jostling for space, just as hassled and tired as anyone who lived in a city. Scott saw enough of cities like Illium and was pleasantly surprised to see that this city was free of the annoying and clogging presence of cars flying everywhere like a cloud of gnats, ruining the scenery. It seemed the Angara prefer public transportation, using shuttles only for rare cases like the present.

Curiously, he did not find any children about. Try as he might, all he can see were adults.

He craned his neck forward to see more. His attention was caught by something moving near the bottom, at the farthest sides of the towers, facing out. The shuttles weaved through the towers and moved them closer to the outermost ones, where he saw acres of netting standing upright outside the towers with vines on top, the hedges spaced evenly and growing shorter the farther it is from the city. Angara were tending the plants, suspended in midair with wires or holding on to the net behind, where the plants were attached. He came to realize they were gardening, and he was actually looking at a farm. A vertical farm.

Finally, they reached a landing pad at center of the city on a tower smaller than those surrounding it. Five pads stretched out from the center like petals of a flower. There were walkways connecting them to the center supported by arches beneath it. At the tip of the tower was a half open dome made of green glass with tiny shapes moving under it. As they went closer, he saw it was a gathering and by the faces turned to their procession, he realized the crowd was expecting them.

Some of the shuttles landed on each of the pads while the rest hovered above. Theirs landed on the pad directly facing the center. The door opened and they disembarked, their escorts in front and behind them. With motions of their escorts’ guns, they were urged to walk towards the center of the tower before the eyes of the crowd.

More people came forth from the stairs winding up onto the top level to join the crowd and stare at them. Scott glanced at them, taking in their varying color, ranging from pale green to the darkest purple. There were some people sharing the same shade of Jaal, but their markings and speckles were different. Some sported tattoos on their faces. And some of them also had a different body type, slender, with a longer torso and a softer face. SAM informed him that they were female in their private channel.

They walked behind their escorts who seem to be lunging with every step on the uneven floor which looked like thick ropes layed out side by side like a rug. He looked downward and saw why.  On the heel of their foot was an opposable toe and as they step, their whole foot wrapped around the curves.

They reached a dais where a group was waiting for them with one Angara towering over them all. They were stopped in front of it then Jaal turned to them. “Wait here while I speak with my people,” Jaal instructed.

“Sure. We’re not going anywhere,” Scott answered cheerfully, feeling excitement build. He looked forward to negotiating with them. He saw only half of the city but he was impressed with it. They were still struggling and an alliance with them would be extremely beneficial.

Jaal walked up the dais and stopped in front of the largest one. He was simply dressed in a dark blue vest with white sleeves and a blue shawl, but from the way the crowd defers to him, he guessed him to be the leader. __Someone who’s going to be a problem__ , he added with a sinking feeling. His whole demeanor looked mean. The guy has a nasty old scar running on his blue skin starting from his forehead, down his left eye, onto his cheek and ending at his jaw. He was also scowling at them before he turned his eyes away to talk to Jaal.

They spoke together for a long time in their language.

Scott was smiling pleasantly, both to convince the angara around them that they were not a threat and also due to the expectation that they would be welcomed here. The smile faded when he saw leader began glowing a dangerous, bright shade of blue like those of a blue-ringed octopus the longer he and Jaal talked. It was not only him; the people who heard their conversation were glowing brighter as well and they heard crackling in the air.

“Uh, Scott?” Marcus said worriedly as he looked at his bushy hair standing up, seeking a charge. He also felt his hair at the back of his neck standing up and they looked at each other in alarm.

“Guys, please say goodbye to Sid for me,” Vetra said sadly.

They looked at her, puzzled. “What do you mean Vetra?” Scott asked.

 “If the lightning’s going to hit, which do you think will it likely strike first: a tall, pointed person or two short and round ones?” she asked them, her sharp, pointy face looking down at them.

They then understood and was about to reassure her when they noticed her non-standard issue armor with the shiny collar and arm guards. They then looked at her in horror when they realized they were placed too close to her like a couple of meat sausages near a lightning rod.

“Tell me that’s ceramic plating with a fake metal finish,” Marcus said worriedly, nodding at her armor.

Vetra sighed. “I wish.”

Marcus turned to Scott, eyes slightly wide. “Scott!” he hissed.

“I know. I’m thinking. Just give me some time,” Scott said, furiously thinking up ways to calm the Angara down not only for her sake but for theirs.

 " _ _I detect rising levels of electrostatic energy in the Angara. Please be advised that it is close to being discharged onto their surroundings,”__  SAM thought. __“You mean us,”__  Scott thought back, feeling cold sweat all over his body.

The leader made a sharp hiss and angrily shoved Jaal back with his arm, nearly throwing him on the onlookers and stomped his way to them until he was in front of Scott. “The vault is ours, human!” he roared in Scott’s face. “Who are you to touch them without permission?”

“We didn’t know it was yours,” Scott stammered, bending back from the towering and glowering alien. Scott isn’t exactly short at six feet but he only came to the middle of Angara’s chest, which would be pressing down on him if he didn’t lean back.  

The slits in the alien’s eyes narrowed and his face leaned closer to him. “Is that so?” he growled. “But does that mean you are free to use it?”

“Well, no-”

“But you still touched it?”

He hesitated. “Yes?”

The Angara stared hard at Scott for a long moment. “If you know it was not yours then why did you still touch it? Do you always meddle with something you don’t understand?” he asked, exasperated.

Scott was about to say that yes, fiddling with unknown tech was what humans do, all the way back from Relay 314 which led to the First Contact War. But he had a feeling that answering truthfully will probably get them electrocuted.

He opened his mouth to give a diplomatic answer but the Angara flung his arms away and turned his back on them. “And now you have ruined it beyond hope! Not only have you have closed it off to us, it has patterned itself after your people!” he said, more for the benefit of the crowd than for them. At his words, the people murmured angrily while glaring at them. The Angara turned to face them and pointed an accusing finger at them. “The vaults are for the Angara people and you stole it!”

The crowd started to glow dangerously, flashes of lightning around them as they faced them, their lips pulled back showing their teeth.

“I’m sorry for touching them without your permission,” he said, looking around at the angry faces, trying to placate them while not showing his fear. “We didn’t know you existed until now. But it’s not a complete loss,” he said quickly as the big Angara made a sharp motion at his companions as if to order them to shoot them. “You can see that we can thrive on your environment so it means you can live in ours. You’re welcome in Eos. We’d be good neighbors,” he suggested hopefully.

“That is not enough. The knowledge within it is more important and you have withheld it forever from us.”

Scott had to admit that that the withholding part was true. Ever since they activated it, the central chamber was sealed and refused all attempts to open it.

The Angara made a quick motion to the others and those started to raise their weapons, so Scott started to think quickly. He remembered SAM’s findings that there were traces of Angaran DNA inside the vaults but the console at the central chamber remain unused. There were also marks on the outside doors which SAM identified as marks by claws mixed with those from  the butt of the rifle and burns of mass accelerated rounds. 

“Wait!” he yelled, making them stop from pointing their weapons at them. “You can’t make the vault work, can you?” he asked the leader.

The Angara just stared at him, but it was not a hard stare. Wary, almost as if he feared that Scott knew the truth.

“So, if you can’t use it, why do you say it was yours?”

He growled. “I am not here to give you a history lesson but since you’re so troublesome in your ignorance, then I will explain,” he said with annoyance. “The vault was built to teach us and part of its teaching was trying to open it. Each vault is different and gives different tests. We have one here right now. Everything you see here,” he gestured to their surroundings, “was built with the knowledge of that vault. And we would have done the same with the one at Eos if not for your meddling,” he finished with a sour tone.

Scott wet his lips, sensing there may be a chance they could walk out there alive. “Alright. So, let’s go back to my first question. You can’t make it work, but I can,” he said, hoping he sound more confident and not fearful. “I was the one who activated the vaults.” The crowd started to hiss but he went on, making his voice louder as he did so.  “I was the one who opened it and I can help you get into the other vaults.”

The big one stared at him then glanced at Jaal behind him. “His failure does not excuse your crime.”

Jaal turned dark, the speckles of light on his skin disappearing like stars after a supernova.  His fellow Angaran however, glowed brighter as they turned to him with angry faces.

“But we can make amends for it,” Scott said, looking away from Jaal to focus on the angara before him. He sensed there was some information he was missing between Jaal and his people, but it will have to wait. “We can help you. We came in peace and we mean it. So, let’s talk and we’ll clear this misunderstanding.”

“Your help is worthless,” the Angara spat. “Just opening the vault is of no use to us, not without the Moshae.”

Scott paused. “The Moshae? Who is the Moshae?”

 “The Moshae Sjefa. Our foremost scholar. And she is lost to us.” His tone went softer as he talked about the Moshae. “She was captured by the Kett, our enemy, along with many of our brothers and sisters and taken to their main base. It has been many months since anyone has last seen her.”

Scott looked around them as the crowd seem to mourn the Moshae. Then an idea occurred to him. “We can take the Moshae back.”

The Angara sneered at him. “How can you be sure of that? Do you think you are better than us that you dare take her back when many of our people failed?”

“We can try. You can’t let her stay there, can you? And even if we failed, you'd lose nothing.”

The Angara stared at him quizzically. “How do you mean?”

“You said we committed a crime, right? And you were just about to punish us,” he said. The Angara glanced at his people, where some were still holding their weapons. "If we failed and died at the attempt, then it’s as if you punished us. If we succeeded, you get the Moshae back. The friendship of our people will benefit both of us. You need allies against the Kett and we need your help to make a home here. You will greatly benefit without risking much.” Then Scott clasped his hands together and adopted a more earnest tone. “Let me prove to you and your people my intentions and what I can do," he pleaded. "If you would allow me, I can help rescue the Moshae. If she knows the way into this vault then her knowledge is vital for not only my people's survival but yours. I’m not asking anymore from you. I only ask that you let me try.”

The Angara stayed silent, considering it. But someone stepped forward before he could answer.

“I am Paraan Shie, governor of Aya,” a female said from up the dais. She had a regal bearing despite only wearing a plain maroon suit with blue-green accents. Her skin glowed a beautiful lavender color turning to dark purple at her crown and a white tattoo made of two lines arched on top of her brows with an angle between it pointing up. “ I speak for all angara and I say that we accept your bargain human.”

She stepped down to their level, the crowd murmuring reverentially as she passed, until she reached the big Angara’s side. “Evfra will assist you and do what he can to fulfill your quest,” she said, nodding at the one beside her.

Efvra’s jaw fell then he snapped it back up. “Governor, this is not a good idea," he pleaded at her, his voice losing its arrogant tone and became wheedling. "We do not know these people-“

“We have no other options,” she answered. “Our forces have failed to take back the Moshae. If this human wants to try, let him try. It is of no loss to us.”

“And if he succeeds?”

She turned away from him to face Scott, her eyes like the night sky full of stars meeting his with an unspoken challenge. “It is of no loss to us either. We need the Moshae and entry to the vaults. This one can give it to us. If what they need is a home and if we have access to the vaults, then we have enough worlds to spare.”

She turned away and walked up the steps. Evfra saw her go, then whipped around to face Scott to glare at him with his icy blue eyes. “You have won, human.  You are permitted to try to save the Moshae from the Kett,” he said, almost spitting the words. He scowled even harder at them when they uttered a sigh of relief and immediately added, “But should you meet Death there, remember, that it was Evfra de Tershaav who sent you.”


	17. Chapter 17

They left Aya and were escorted out the Shroud the same way they went in. They were instructed to go to the Nol System to talk with their informants then the cruisers went back in, the Shroud closing behind them. Scott nodded to Kallo to keep them on course and he went out to talk with their newest crew member down at the cargo bay.

Marcus had to vacate his room and camp in the Tech lab since they didn’t think to allow a stranger within arm’s reach of their tech station was a good idea. He hoped Jaal would see it as them offering a better room for a guest and not suspect the real reason.  

Scott knocked on the door and heard Jaal answer so he asked, “Jaal, can I go in?”

The door swooshed open and he stepped through. He found their guest was busy unpacking his belongings to make the cabin comfortable enough for him. Fortunately, Marcus hadn’t started decorating his room yet and he always made his things easy to pack and move. Only his couch was left as a reminder that someone else had roomed there before.

“Need any help?” Scott offered as he leaned in the door frame.

“Thank you, but no. I’ve brought only small things. It should not take a long time to set them,” Jaal answered, putting a box with his stuff down on the desk. There was a hammock already set up at the corner. It seemed he preferred the swaying over the steadiness of the retractable bed at the wall.

“We haven't had a chance to talk alone. Are you comfortable here?”

“Yes. This room is adequate,” he answered, gesturing to their surroundings. “As for my things, I had a talk with your ‘procurement officer’ about what I can bring on board. I’ve brought blankets just in case your beddings are insufficient or uncomfortable, a crate with some of my personal projects inside, jugs of nourishment paste, my armor and weapons along with their repair equipment and my toiletries. I hope you’ll find them compliant,” he said.

“Yes. They’ll be returned to you shortly. Vetra had to put your things in her accounting on our equipment. Your meal packs and bottles were being checked by our doctor, Lexi T’Perro to check whether you might be allergic to our things,” he said evenly. His things were quarantined until Vetra and Gil cleared it, though they were currently stumped on the crate which had resisted their efforts to scan it. Meanwhile, Dr. Lexi expressed surprise at seeing twenty-five bottles of salves, creams, and perfumes but informed him to warn Jaal about the candies in the kitchen. “Dr. Lexi says that if you find some brightly colored food in the kitchen, you should avoid it. She says it may give you a painful, burning sensation if you eat it. But mostly, our food is harmless to you though I can't guarantee the taste.”

Jaal nodded then his skin grew murky and he gave an uneasy glance at the Human. Though he did not say it then, he found their appearance extremely strange, what with the fine moss on their heads, their color and their physique, which was both familiar and uncanny especially when he focused on their legs. And that was before he met his companions the other aliens. To his eyes they looked monstrous; he does not understand or know the purpose for the sharp, metallic planes of the Turians, the broad, leathery and rough faces of the Krogans, the blue-skinned and smooth faces of the Asari with the fringe on top of their heads and the smooth-skinned and long faces of the Salarians with their big, dark eyes. But they were bi-pedal with two arms, one mouth, one nose and two eyes like them and that was comforting.

Luckily, some of the aliens ended up on Aya, which gave them weeks to observe them and grow used to their appearance. So, he did not scream as he would have surely done if this was their first contact. He just said, “It feels strange to stay with the others. They're—you're—aliens.”

“And you’re also an alien to us! See, we’re even,” Scott said brightly.

He considered that and smiled. “We can consider that a place to start. Perhaps then, if we're all aliens, it's about what kind of aliens we are.”

“Yes. But there are some things I need to understand here because we’re new here and all. I’d like to ask you some questions if you don’t mind?”  

“Of course.”

“First of all, where are we going?”

“Voeld. It is one of our colonies. It was said that it was once a thriving world, full of life. Now, it is a cold barren wasteland, where our people cling precariously to life and eke out a living on the unforgiving ice.”

“What happened there?”

“Its vault has stopped working and we had not succeeded in activating it since.”

“I’m sorry.”

Jaal gave him an amused look. “For what? You did not cause it.”

“I’m just saying that I feel for your loss, that I am willing to help you in any way I can.”

Jaal was scrutinizing him intensely through his monocle so Scott cleared his throat and talked of something else. “Your city, Aya, is beautiful.”

“Thank you. Your group was the first outsiders permitted to see it,” Jaal answered stiffly. He wasn’t completely truthful though. They’ve picked up some of their people wandering in the cluster, oblivious that they were deep in some of the Families’ territory. The Families did not know what to do with them. Half of them wanted to get rid of them immediately while the other half pleaded for decency.  As with all disputes, they deferred to Aya, so they sent the aliens there, hooded and then placed in windowless observation cells with no idea that they were in the most important city of the Angara. This fact Jaal didn’t tell. Let the aliens work out how the initial contact with them went and how much of them they knew. His debt to him has a limit. 

Scott observed that the color of his skin swirled but as to what that meant, he doesn’t know yet. Perhaps if he asked more questions…“So, Paaran Shie, is she your ruler? Like a queen?”

“No. She is only a governor. She only mediates between the Families but never rule over them. That power resides in the Great Mother in each Family. But in an extraordinary time like this, she is fit to speak in all our behalf.”

“I see. Who’s Efvra?” he asked, keeping his tone light as possible.

Jaal’s mouth quirked up and Scott had the feeling that Jaal knew that his embarrassment at the hands of the giant Angara was greatly in his mind. “Ah. He is the leader of our Resistance. He leads the group dedicated to fighting the Kett.”

“He’s very…friendly,” was his comment on Evfra, choosing not to offend.

Jaal chuckled. “If there’s a word to describe him, it won’t be __friendly__. You can say he is harsh and short-tempered, but not friendly.”

“Won’t it offend your people?”

“When is honesty offensive? You call things by their proper names and to do otherwise is to be mistaken.”

Scott noted that his people value brutal honesty and filed it away for later use. “So, if I call him harsh, then he won’t be offended?”

Jaal’s smile faded. “He won’t. But he will attack you. That is his nature. You should do your best to survive him.”

Scott’s brow drew together as he stared at Jaal. “I don’t understand,” he said shortly. “He’s not offended, but he will attack me?”

“He holds no ill-will against you. But he will fight you as is his nature, and you should defend yourself as best as you can. That is the only way he will respect you.”

Scott still doesn’t understand but noted that he should avoid calling Evfra anything if he valued his life. “It does explain how he welcomed us back earlier.”

“Experience with the Kett makes us distrustful of all aliens,” Jaal answered, with a hint of anger. The speckles in his skin glowed brighter.

“I can understand that. We’ve had a few fights with the Kett too.”

“Then you do understand our reasons for distrust. When they came to Heleus, they took our freedom to travel where we wished and destroyed our peace. The Kett abduct Angara, often, and we never see our people again.”

Scott noted that, despite Jaal saying he distrusted aliens like them, he seemed to be freely giving information to them. He also noted it occurred whenever he spoke with emotion. “Do they have a leader?”

“The Archon. They came to us before when they first arrived. They never showed themselves openly after we chased them out, but we know they are there, hiding in the darkness of space, directing all kett to wage this relentless war that has no meaning.” His voice grew stronger and harsher, his skin growing darker with the speckles brighter, as he said, “If we find them, we will make them pay dearly for what they’d done.”

Scott observed that changes in the color of his skin coincided with the times that Jaal was feeling a strong emotion.

  _ _“I detect heightened electrical levels from him, consistent with physiological changes in his skin which results in the change of color that you perceive__ ,” SAM thought.

 _ _“Thanks,__ ” Scott thought back. __“And SAM?”__

__“Yes?”_ _

__“We should stop scanning our friend here until we know how they feel about their privacy.”_ _

SAM paused. It searched Ryder’s memories in an attempt to understand why.

 _ _“Which also means that you should stop scanning my memories without my permission,”__  Scott thought.

__“Do I have your permission?”_ _

__“No.”_ _

SAM paused again. It searched its mandate and found a directive to comply with Scott’s requests, even if it didn’t understand why.   _ _“As you wish, Ryder,”__  it replied, then deciding to scan its memory banks instead to make sense of it while noting Ryder’s instructions towards Jaal and also about itself. A folder titled Privacy was created where it stored all its observations.

After dealing with SAM, Scott focused his attention to Jaal.

“They?” he asked, referring to Jaal’s pronoun for the Archon.

Jaal frowned. “I did not mean the Archon was of many. I meant only one, with undetermined sex. The Kett have no biological sex I believe.”

 Scott understood the translation error and skipped it. “Can we go from the first time your people met them?”

“Of course. You must understand first that we don’t believe we have arisen naturally but due to design by a higher being.”

Scott gave a wry smile. “I understand. We believed the same thing a long time ago. Some of us still believe in it. Our co-pilot and xenogeologist, Suvi Anwar believes that God exists.”

Jaal looked curiously at him. “Your co-pilot is interesting. But do __you__  consider it fact as well?”

Scott blinked and he frowned. “It’s just a belief. Facts had nothing to do with it,” he explained. Technically, this is true. Believers insist that the existence of their deity or the truth of their faith cannot be proven by empirical or rational means, so objective reality really has nothing to do with it.

“To us, it is. The Forge has proven it.”

“I’m sorry-what? What is the Forge?”

“The cradle of our civilization, where all Angara originated. It is defunct now and buried in our birth planet’s ruins but it looked similar to the vaults. Our archaeological studies tie our origins to it. If they allow you, you can view a copy back at Aya.”

His lips parted and his brow raised in surprise. Apart from the hanar who believed that they were uplifted by the extinct race, the Protheans, he knew no other race who claimed to be designed at this present age or shown tangible proof of it. “Wow. That’s really incredible. I’ve never heard of another race with an origin like yours.”

Jaal nodded gravely. “I explained this to you because this is important to understand our war with the Kett. About sixty years ago, some of our bands found a dead ship floating on the outer edges of the cluster with Kett clinging on to the debris like people drowning at sea. They went to investigate and were surprised to find them still alive, despite being in vacuum. They brought them to Aya for our leaders to examine them. At that time, we just discovered the truth of our origin and were curious to meet the being that made us. The Kett’s survival was miraculous to us. When they were lucid enough, we asked them if they were our creators.”

Scott had an inkling where the story was going but he wanted Jaal to tell him himself so he asked, “What did they say?”

“They claimed they were. They told a long tale that their people have created us long ago with a mission to seed the galaxy with life and now had returned to see their creations. They did not expect the Shroud to be there and shred their ships. They convinced our Moshae then and some of her people to build them a place of worship in one of our worlds so we could ascend like them and our people happily agreed. They said they have an answer to immortal life and looking at their ability to survive, we believed them. A long time after they left and which none returned, our current Moshae, who was next in line then, felt suspicion in her heart and went down the vault at Aya to remove her doubts. But the vault told her they did not create us and that they were merely just another sentient race.”

 _ _So the vault is maybe sentient__ , Scott thought. It may also have knowledge on the rest of the galaxy since it apparently recognizes the Kett. However, something about it made him wonder if the Angara were either just that gullible or simply naïve. “There’s something I don’t understand. The Kett weren’t able to pass through the Shroud and yet you believe they were your creators? Shouldn’t they also pass through it like you do since your technology is based on the vaults they made?”

“It was the first time we met another race other than us. We were more curious than cautious and also ecstatic to have confirmation of our origins. We did not suspect them then when they said they had created us long ago and that their technology’s evolution diverged from the vaults due to some upheavals in their own worlds. They said there was a period where their civilizations lost contact with each other and it was only now that they started reconnecting. Then they discovered that their ancestors have seeded races in their early history and so they set out to find us. All lies of course.” He gave a rueful chuckle. “I admit our actions then were unwise. In our eagerness to meet our Maker, we forgot that the universe may not be so favorable to us; that other beings we encounter may not be as considerate to us as we wish for them. Still, even though this incident has given us and still is giving us a lot of grief, we value its lesson. We won’t be so trusting and welcoming to strangers as before,” he said and gave Scott a look of acute awareness.  

Scott tried not to react on Jaal’s look of suspicion and continued to act as if he was harmless due to their being in need. After all, who would doubt a beggar and refuse them help just because they were a stranger? He also noticed Jaal’s knowing stare and fought the urge to act on the doubt in his mind; the knowledge that Jaal was aware of what he was doing and so all the things he told may not be all true. Maybe they are now playing a mind game and Jaal was testing to see if he gives him a reason not to trust them. Maybe not. But for both scenarios, the best step for him was not to rise to the baiting. “It’s unfortunate for us both that the Kett have already spoiled your trust on alien relations. I hope you’ll see that we aren’t the Kett and we really wish to have your friendship.”

“We shall see,” was Jaal’s only reply to that and he continued his story. “As to the Shroud, we are not certain if it is a creation of the vaults. It appeared during the Cataclysm about a hundred years ago, when all the vaults failed and started destroying the planets they made bountiful. We were only able to pass through it due to our scholars who survived Aya and improved our ships in its barren moon. Aya was far more beautiful then, its cities dotting its surface like dewdrops caught in a spider’s web in the early morning light. Now, it was reduced only to one city and we could not restore it to its former glory through its vault without inviting the Shroud in and tear the planet apart.”

 “So what happened after the vault told the Moshae the truth about the Kett?”

“She spread the news to everyone. At first, we didn’t believe her and were angry at her for revealing it. Some of us must have informed the Kett so they returned. They told her that she committed blasphemy against them and tried to take over the Aya vault. She and her believers stood their ground and prevented them from taking it, whereupon a fight broke out and some of our people lay dead. When we saw what they had done, we grew angry. Creators or not, we will not tolerate injustice. We drove them out and hunted them until they were never seen again. Some survived or else we wouldn’t be fighting them until now. But we never saw again the previous Moshae and some of our people who went with them.”

“So how come they’re back?”

Jaal shook his head in deep bafflement. “We don’t know. We had a decade of peace after they were driven out. But then, our people started disappearing. Tradition then was for our males to live in the wild upon reaching maturation while our females stay with their mothers in the cities.  Then there was a year when very few males returned to the cities for our festival. The Great Mothers didn’t think much of it then, since they would wander long and far, sometimes not returning for years. When it continued into the second year, they grew concerned and talked with the other Families which experienced the same and agreed that it was very odd. By the third year, they sent some soldiers to go out and track their sons who were on their first journey out. They found that the kett were lying in wait to kidnap them as soon as they were out of sight of the city walls.”

“And then?”

“The Families ended the practice and recalled all their people back into their cities. No one now can explore freely wherever they wished and to go from city to city, world to world, required a party. This has caused great frustration among my grandfathers’ generation, who find living in the cities too confining and tedious. Aya can explain more how this affected our lives. The war is still on, but now the Kett have grown numerous.  They attacked our colonies, severely limiting our territories and kept each Family separated from each other. As of present, they are currently circling our worlds, waiting for any lapse of our vigilance so they could capture us all while our families repel them, day after day, year after year. It was only here, in Aya, that we can feel the sense of peace and freedom we had before their arrival.”

“Because of the Shroud,” Scott said.

Jaal nodded. “The Kett may have strange technology but it does not allow them to pass through it.”

Scott was also curious how they can pass through it but decided it’s a question for another time. Asking it too early may spook Jaal and stop telling important information freely as he does now. “Did they explain why they were trying to capture your people?”

“Before we drove them out, they said that our existence as we are now will lead to the destruction of the galaxy. They came here to save us and everyone from that fate by asking us to join them in unity and eternal peace, free of oppression or war,” Jaal answered. He fell silent, the speckles in his skin waning. “We don’t know what they meant, since all that they do is contrary to what they preach. They refused to explain it and the Kett we captured refused to speak more about it, whatever we did to them.”

“You can’t make them talk?”

“No. If they are captured, they can decide not to eat or drink for months and lapse into a catatonic state, until their body eats them inside and they die of hunger. They do not feel pain, loneliness or madness. Their zealous belief that they came to save us from ourselves was the only thing they will speak. That makes it difficult to wipe them out completely. They don’t live like us; they have no cities, no supply lines, no factories we can cripple. They seem to be only living in their ships but how they managed to live all these years, we don’t know.”

Scott tutted softly. If they were going to defeat the Kett, it will not take conventional military strategies. But then, he wondered, if the Kett cannot pass through the Shroud, then how did they build up their numbers? There were two possibilities. Either they figured some way past the Shroud to get reinforcements or they have a rapid rate of reproduction. Maybe they’re like the Asari who give birth via parthenogenesis. Maybe they clone themselves. But he remembered there were differences in the faces and arrangement of the facial bones on the Kett they encountered so cloning was unlikely.

Or maybe they reproduce by breaking off a limb which will then grow into an adult. He knew enough about alien reproduction, which may not be the same as the human norm. Anything is possible.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts.  It was useless speculating with little information and so returned his attention to the topic at hand. “Back on Aya, I’m wondering what Evfra meant by you. I meant-“

“My failure?” Jaal uttered a harsh sound. “Yes, you heard right.”

“I’m sorry-“

“It is alright. And you apologize too much, even for things you did not do.” Jaal looked at the screen, the light shining on his monocle. “I was part of a scholar team sent to study the vault in Eos. I was supposed to protect them but-I failed. The Kett were not content to take our people; they want to take our inheritance too. But they cannot open it, so they were laying in wait for any Angara to claim it. And my team had.”

Scoot was about to express his condolences, but he remembered that he apologized too much.

“We fended off their attacks, week after week after week. We decided to retreat and try another time, this time with the might of the Resistance behind us but the Kett would not let us go. They hunted us like animals. Until,” he bowed his head shamefully, looking at his empty hands, “I was the only one left.”

He looked so pitiful there, with so much grief and shame hanging over him that he reached a hand placed it gently on his shoulder. “We’ll pay the Kett back for that,” he promised.

Jaal turned to look at the hand on his shoulder. His gaze was not hostile, but Scott felt self-conscious about the gesture and withdrew it quickly. Jaal then directed his gaze to him, searching his face.

Jaal did not know if the alien was being sincere. Though his alien blue eyes looked at him earnestly, his skin remained a dusty white color with its pinkish undertones. Throughout their conversation, it never changed with every word he spoke despite the feelings he expressed. There was no light in his skin, the light indicative of life. His was a dead color, the color of non-living things, like rocks and trees and- the Kett.

He suppressed the urge to shudder and nodded. “I look forward to the time we arrive at their base and carve the names of my team into their skulls.”

Scott and Jaal talked more about Aya, the governor and some basic etiquette before they called it a night.


End file.
